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roosevelt's 
Marvelous Exploits 

IN THE 

Wilds of Africa 

CONTAINING 

THRILLING ACCOUNTS OF HIS KILLING LIONS, RHINOCERI 
AND OTHER FEROCIOUS BEASTS OF THE JUNGLE 

INCLUDING 

FULL AND GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF HUNTING BIG GAME, 
HIS MIRACULOUS ADVENTURES AND WONDERFUL FEATS WITH 
HIS RIFLE, TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES WITH FEROCIOUS 
ANIMALS, STRANGE PEOPLE, STARTLING REVELA- 
TIONS AND AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS 
IN DARKEST AFRICA 

THE WHOLE COMPRISING 

THRILLING STORIES AND FASCINATING NARRATIVES OF 

ROOSEVELT'S ADVENTURES IN SEARCH OF 

SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 

By Jay Henry Mowbray, Ph. D„ LL D. 

The Celebrated Author, Traveler and Lecturer 



Embellished with a Great Number of Striking Illustrations of Wild 
Beasts and Scenes in the Dark Continent 






& 



ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGSES8 IN THE YEAR 1«0t, 1Y 
GEO. W. BERTRON 
IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CON0RE«», AT WASHINGTON-^ D. C, U. k 



©CI.A251591 




INTRODUCTION. 



HEODORE ROOSEVELT, having, on 
March 4, 1909, with his retirement as 
twenty-sixth President of the United 
States, completed over twenty-five years of 
public service, decided to take rest and recreation in a trip 
abroad, half of which was to be spent in Africa under the 
British flag as a faunal naturalist. 

When the tentative announcement of this great trip of adven- 
ture was made, about a year before his retirement from office, the 
world in an instant was agog. 

Rumors as absurd as they were conflicting began to fill the air, 
but the President pursued his preparations unmoved. It was not 
until the 3rd of the December preceding his stepping down from 
office, indeed, that he made any official announcement of his plans. 
On that date, however, the following official statement was given out 
at the White House : 

" In March, 1909," it said, " Theodore Roosevelt will head a 
scientific expedition to Africa, outfitted by the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion and starting from New York City. This expedition will gather 
natural history materials for the government collections, to be 
deposited by the Smithsonian Institution in the new United States 
National Museum at Washington. 

" Besides the President and his son, Kermit Roosevelt, the 
personnel of the party, on leaving New York, will consist of three 
representatives of the Smithsonian Institution: Major Edgar A. 
Mearns, medical corps, U. S. A., retired; Edmund Heller and J, 
Alden Loring. 

" On arriving in Africa the party will be enlarged by the 
addition of R. J. Cuninghame, who is now in Africa preparing the 
President's outfit. He will have charge of a number of native 



no* 



INTRODUCTION. 

porters, who, with necessary animals, will be formed into a small 

caravan. , . ,. , . 

" Mr Roosevelt and his son will kill the big game, the skins 
and skeletons of which will be prepared and shipped to the United 
States by other members of the party. Kermit Roosevelt is to be 
the official photographer. > 

" The national collections are very deficient in natural history 




COL. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

materials from the Dark Continent and an effort will be made by 
the expedition to gather general collections in zoology and botany 
to supply some of its deficiencies, but the main effort will be to collect 
the large and vanishing African animals. 

" R. J. Cuninghame, who is now engaged in assembling the 
materials for Mr. Roosevelt's use, will act as guide and manager. 
Mr. Cuninghame is also an experienced collector of natural history 



INTRODUCTION. *21 

specimens, having made collections for the British Museum in Nor- 
way and Africa. He is an English field man, who has guided 
numerous hunting parties in Africa and who was chief hunter for 
the Field Columbian Exposition. 

TO PRESERVE BIG GAME SPECIMENS. 

u Edmund Heller, a graduate of Stanford University, class of 
1 90 1, is a thoroughly trained naturalist, whose special work will be 
the preparation and preservation of specimens of large animals. 
Mr. Heller is about thirty years old. His former experience, when 
associated with D. G. Eliot and Mr. Ackley, of the Field Columbian 
Museum, in collecting big game animals in the same portions of 
Africa which Mr. Roosevelt will visit, will be a valuable asset to the 
expedition. 

" Mr. Heller has had large experiences in animal collecting in 
Alaska, British Columbia, the United States, Mexico, Central 
America and South America. In the year 1898 he made a collecting 
trip of eleven months to Gallopagos Islands, starting from San 
Francisco. 

" He is a born and enthusiastic collector, as well as a well 
equipped naturalist. He is also the author of scientific papers on 
mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes. At present he is assistant 
curator of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of 
California. 

" J. Alden Loring is a field naturalist, whose training comprises 
service in the biological survey of the Department of Agriculture, 
and in the Bronx Zoological Park, New York City, as well as on 
numerous collecting trips through British America, Mexico and the 
United States. He is about thirty-eight years old, of ardent tem- 
perament and intensely energetic. 

" In August, September and October, 1898, he made the highest 
record for a traveling collector, having sent in to the United States 
National Museum many well-prepared specimens of small mammals 
in the three months' journey from London through Sweden, Ger- 
many, Switzerland and Belgium. 

" Major Edgar A. Mearns, a retired officer of the medical 



22* INTRODUCTION. 

corps of the army, will be the physician of the trip and have charge 
of the Smithsonian portion of the party. He has had twenty-five 
years' experience as an army doctor, and is also well known as a 
naturalist and collector of natural history specimens." 

It was Rooseveltian in the extreme, yet the people had long 
been prepared for this great climax to the career of America's great 
game hunter, whose battles with the bear and bison of the West left 
him none but the greatest of all game fields yet to conquer. 

A LIFE FULL OF THRILLING ADVENTURE. 

Long had it been the desire of Colonel Roosevelt to make a 
hunting tour into the heart of Africa. He had made numerous 
trips in search of big game in every part, of the United States where 
such animals make their abode. For years he had been an ardent 
hunter and a writer of hunting stories. 

Some of his books on the subject are: " Hunting Trips of a 
Ranchman," written from his experiences while on a North Dakota 
ranch, when he spent two years raising cattle; " Ranch Life and 
Hunting Trail," " The Wilderness Hunter," ' The Deer Family," 
" Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter." In the latter volume 
he refers to the sport in these words : 

" From the days of Nimrod to our own there have been mighty 
hunters before the Lord, and most warlike and masterful races have 
taken kindly to the chase as chief among those rough pastimes 
which appeal naturally to men with plenty of red blood in their 
veins." 

One might think our ex-President desired to emulate the earlier 
among the great conquering kings of Egypt and Assyria, who, he 
says, hunted the elephant and the wild bull, as well as the lions with 
which the country swarmed, and Tiglath-Pileser I, who as overlord 
of Phoenicia embarked on the Mediterranean and there killed " a 
sea monster," presumably a whale — a feat which, Colonel Roosevelt 
declares, " has been paralleled by no sport-loving sovereign of 
modern times save by that stout hunter the German kaiser, although, 
I believe, the present English king has slain both elephants and 
tigers before he came to the throne." 



INTRODUCTION. 



*23 



Speaking of the great hunting grounds of the world, Colonel 
Roosevelt says that there remain only three in the present century. 
South Africa is the true hunter's paradise, in his opinion. If the 
happy hunting grounds are to be found anywhere in this world, he 
says, they lie between the Orange and the Zambesi, and extend 
northward here and there to the Nile countries and the Somaliland. 




COLONEL ROOSEVELT AND HIS SON IN THE PADDLE. 



Nowhere else are there such multitudes of game, representing 
so many and such widely different kinds of animals of such size, 
such beauty, such infinite variety. " We should have to go back to 
'.he fauna of pleistocene to find its equal." 

Having been in public life almost continually since he grad- 
uated from Harvard University in 1880 — serving the people in 
the capacity of assemblyman in New York State, Civil Service 
Commissioner of the United States, President of the Police Board 



24* INTRODUCTION. 

in New York City, Assistant Secretary of the Navy of the United 
States, Colonel of the First United States Volunteer Cavalry in the 
Spanish War, Governor of the State of New York, Vice-President of 
the United States, and finally as President of the nation, the highest 
gift in the power of the people of the country — Colonel Roosevelt 
felt that he had earned the right to put in a portion of his time in 
the sport which most appealed to him. 

He proposed to spend some months away from the United 
States for two reasons. Rest and recreation in hunting and 
scientific research were only the minor ones. 

REASONS FOR THE TRIP INTO AFRICA. 

He intended to put himself beyond the reach of those persons 
who he believed would inevitably seek, if he were within reach, to 
use his influence with the administration of President Wm. H. Taft. 

Colonel Roosevelt was, of course, aware of the manner in which 
the charge had been circulated that Mr. Taft would be only a 
Roosevelt man as President, and whatever Mr. Taft, as President, 
might do it would be ascribed to Colonel Roosevelt's influence. 

It was because of this situation that Colonel Roosevelt decided 
to take himself out of the country, where it would be impossible for 
anyone to repeat any such charge against President Taft. 

Colonel Roosevelt well selected a place where his seclusion in 
this respect would be secure, for hardly could a more inaccessible 
locality be found. In this connection, Colonel Roosevelt, some 
months before the Republican national convention had nominated 
Mr. Taft to the Presidency, made a statement in which he said : 

" If Mr. Taft is nominated and elected President, which would 
be very gratifying, it would make impossible any criticism, if I were 
abroad, to the effect that I was dictating to him and being followed, 
or that I had dictated and had been turned down in any suggestions." 

In traveling abroad Theodore Roosevelt determined not to make 
any such tour as did General Grant after retiring from the Presi- 
dency. General Grant was received in state by emperors and kings 
wherever he went on his tour around the world. He was feted 
as no other American ever has been. 



INTRODUCTION. *25 

Colonel Roosevelt decided to avoid all that, it being his desire 
to travel as a plain American citizen, and spend a good part of his 
time in pursuit of game, thus putting himself out of the way of social 
entertainment. 

Statements had been made to the effect that the game preserves , 
in British East Africa under control of the British Colonial Govern- 
ment were to be opened to the President and his companions to 
shoot at will. No advantage of these offers, he decided, should be 
taken, Colonel Roosevelt having made up his mind to decline to do 
-any shooting on government preserves where the hunting is not open 

to all. 

HUNTING FOR PURPOSES OF SCIENCE ALONE. 

The feeling of the ex-President on this matter of shooting on 
government reservations he explained in this way : A person taking 
advantage to shoot on government reservations in Africa would be 
exactly in the same position of any foreigner who came to America 
and was given permission by the United States government to shoot 
at will in the government reservation at Yellowstone Park, where 
the American buffalo, to be found almost nowhere else, roams un- 
molested. Colonel Roosevelt declared that such permission rightly 
would arouse resentment. 

Colonel Roosevelt shares with other sportsmen the feeling that 
the wild animals on reservations sh< aid be protected to the utmost, 
and that under no circumstances should permission be given to kill 
them, except, possibly, when predatory animals become too numerous 
for the safety of other practically defenseless animals. 

Permission for one person to shoot on a reservation, Colonel 
Roosevelt believed, would lead eventually to permission to others, 
and that in the end the game reservation would not be a reservation 
at all in its proper sense. 

It was Colonel Roosevelt's desire that his African hunting 
expedition should not be looked upon as one with sport as a main 
object. A limited number of specimens of mammals and birds were 
to be killed for the uses of the United States National Museum. 
Other killing was to be confined to the limits of the necessary food 
supply of the camp. 



26* INTRODUCTION. 

On his trip Colonel Roosevelt hoped to secure for scientific 
purposes two adult specimens, one of each sex, and a specimen of 
their young, of animals he was likely to meet on the Dark Continent. 

For the ordinary needs of the Museum the ex-President and 
the naturalists and director of the Smithsonian Institution, whom 
he had consulted, thought these would be sufficient, but whether 
they were sufficient or not these are all he had in mind to kill, no 
matter how plentiful the game might be. 

It was the known wish of the ex-President that the expedition 
into Africa should be made with the privacy that marks, or should 
mark, any other scientific expedition. Colonel Roosevelt wanted 
an outing and a chance to do a moderate amount of shooting, with a 
first view to getting results that will be of some benefit to science 

WARNING AS TO RIVAL EXPEDITIONS. 

A few days before he sailed for Africa, and while he was at 
Oyster Bay preparing for the trip, a telegram was handed the 
former President from a press association stating that a rival 
concern " had fitted out an expedition to follow him to Africa," and 
requested the privilege to do the same. 

" Now, what do you think of that?" he inquired, sarcastically. 
" I want it understood that I will permit no other expedition besides 
my own to accompany me in Africa." 

" Do you expect to survive your trip, Mr. Roosevelt?" was a 
jocular question put to the former President. 

" Come and see me when I return to America and then I shall 
answer you," he answered. "If these professors who take such a 
warm interest in my trip and my chances of contracting and sur- 
viving miasmatic fevers in the African jungle knew how little their 
views affected me they might not utter them. I have been in bad 
places before and I know how to take care of myself. Besides, the 
tei ritory in Africa I am going to visit is as safe to traverse as are 
the marshes of the South. 

' I am accustomed to facing dangers, and the fear of fever is 
purely imaginary. I served my apprenticeship on the Western plains, 
and a little jaunt in Africa will be merely a diversion." Colonel 



INTRODUCTION. *27 

Roosevelt reverted to his cowboy days in Dakota as the happiest 
of his life. 

One member of the party told Colonel Roosevelt that he used 
to be a cowboy in the Panhandle of Texas. " I am only a has-been, 
now, though," added the visitor. 

"Don't say that — don't say that!" exclaimed the former Pre- 
sident. " Bully for you ! Give me your hand ! I used to be a 
cowboy, too, but I'm no has-been, and I guess I'm a little older than 
you." 

ASSIDUOUS PREPARATIONS. 

During his summer vacation the previous year, which he spent 
at his summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, N. Y., Colonel 
Roosevelt did most of his planning for the trip. During the hot 
summer days from June till September he devoted much of his time 
sitting on the broad veranda of his home studying books on natural 
history and big-game hunting in Africa. These he procured from 
every available source. 

Working out the details of his plans occupied a great deal of 
time. Pie was continually in correspondence during the summer, 
and even after he again resumed his official duties at Washington, 
with the noted big-game hunters and naturalists who have devoted 
years of study to Africa and its fauna. Men who had spent any 
length of time in that part of Africa where he intended visiting 
were welcome visitors at Sagamore Hill, and from these he gained 
valuable information. 

This was the case also when he returned to the White House, 
and among those whom he entertained there were Bishop Hartzell, 
who had spent many years as missionary bishop of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in Africa, and Sir Harry H. Johnston, the noted 
English naturalist and author, who had twenty-five years' experi- 
ence in Central Africa and was the discoverer of the Okapi. 

Sir Harry, after his visit to the President, said he was sur- 
prised to find Colonel Roosevelt so well informed on Africa and its 
fauna, and declared that the President was able to tell him things 
about it of which he had no knowledge. 



28* INTRODUCTION. 

Numerous other persons who had been to Uganda and British 
East Africa the President consulted, and, as a result, he gathered 
a store of information not to be obtained from books. 

It was to Secretary Walcott. of the Smithsonian Institution, 
that Colonel Roosevelt first unfolded the tentative plans for his 
African trip. 

In a letter to the secretary he made known his project of going, 
after his term of office expired, to Africa for the purpose of hunting 
and traveling in British and German East Africa, crossing Uganda 
and working down the Nile, with side trips after animals and birds. 
He declared then that he is " not in the least a game butcher," 
saying : 

" I like to do a certain amount of hunting, but my real and 
main interest is the interest of a faunal naturalist." 

TENTATIVE PLANS FIRST UNFOLDED. 

In his letter he expressed the opinion that this trip opened the 
best chance for the United States National Museum to get a fine 
collection, not only of the big game beasts, but of the smaller 
mammals and birds of Africa, and ought not to be neglected. 

The President offered to take with him several professional 
field naturalists and taxidermists who should prepare and send back 
the specimens he is to collect, the collection to go to the National 
Museum. 

The President said that as an ex-President he should feel that 
that institution was the museum to which his collection should go. 
While he would pay the expenses of himself and his son, he felt that 
he had not the means that would enable him to pay for the naturalists 
and their kit and the curing and transport of the specimens for the 
museum. 

All he desired to keep would be a few personal trophies of little 
scientific value which, for some reason, he might like to keep. He 
said the actual hunting of big game he would want to do himself or 
have his son do. 

Seeing the value of the President's proposition, Secretary 
Walcott immediately set to work selecting men to form the party. 



INTRODUCTION. *29> 

He decided that three men should form the Smithsonian Institution's 
portion of the party. The necessary funds for the Smithsonian's 
share of the expense were secured from a source which has not 
been revealed. It is stated that no part of these funds was derived 
from any government appropriation or the income of the Smith- 
sonian Institution. 

But before going further, perhaps it would be well to dwell a 
little more fully upon the careers and qualifications of the former 
President's companions than he himself did in his official statement. 

COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S COMPANIONS. 

In selecting the four men to accompany Colonel Roosevelt the 
best men in the scores of naturalists of the country were selected. . 

It was decided that Major Edgar A. Mearns would have charge 
of the Smithsonian portion of the party. As an ornithologist, 
Major Mearns is probably one of the highest authorities, having 
made a specialty of bird study for many years. The Major was 
one of the founders of the American Ornithologists' Union, and has 
written widely on bird subjects. 

He is a member of the Linnaean Society of Natural History of 
New York, of the National Geographical Society, of the Biological 
Society of Washington, of the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science and a patron of the American Museum of 
Natural History of New York. 

As a field naturalist J. Loring Alden was probably the most 
efficient and experienced man in the party. He has made a specialty 
of the smaller mammals, and it is said of him that, where other 
traps and baits fail, he can devise a trap and select a bait that will 
lure any of the smaller creatures into captivity. His home is in 
Owego, N. Y. 

Of the party, the only one who has had previous experience in 
that section of Africa through which the expedition was to journey 
was Edmund Heller. In order that he might accompany Colonel 
Roosevelt, his release from his position as assistant curator of the 
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California w T as. 
secured by the Smithsonian Institution. 

He is an enthusiastic collector as well as a natively equipped 



30* INTRODUCTION. 

naturalist. Of numerous scientific papers on mammals, birds, 
reptiles and fishes he is the author. Mr. Heller's home is at Los 
Gatos, Cal. 

Kermit Roosevelt, the President's second son, then a young man 
of nineteen years, was selected as the official photographer of the 
expedition. His collection of photographs of animals and scenes 
was to be made use of in a scientific way and as illustrations. 
Young Mr. Roosevelt was a student at Harvard University and a 
great favorite of his father. 

KERMIT ROOSEVELT PREPARES HIMSELF. 

He spent considerable time in preparing himself for the work 
he was to undertake. During his summer vacation he made a study 
of the camera and photographic methods. He also experimented 
in taking pictures of the animals at the Zoological Gardens in New 
York. 

It was his first trip abroad, and he looked forward to it with the 
keenest interest. He is tall and slender, a good horseman and a 
splendid rifle shot. Much of the shooting of the big game he shared 
with his father. 

To complete the personnel of the expedition, R. J. Cuninghame 
was chosen. No better manager for the trip could have been 
selected, because Mr. Cuninghame is thoroughly familiar with every 
nook and corner of East Africa and its natives. 

He spent some time in London purchasing the outfit for the 
expedition and shipping it to Mombasa. After that had been com- 
pleted he proceeded to British Africa, and was engaged in selecting 
the natives and animals necessary for the expedition until the time 
he met the party at Mombasa. 

Before this, however, the expedition was joined by another 
' big game " hunter whose fame was international — Frederick 
Courteney Selous, the hero of Rider Haggard's novel, Allan 
Ouarterman, whose achievements and adventures will be spoken of 
more in detail later in this volume. Suffice it to say, at this time, 
that no hunter in the world has won greater celebrity by his bravery 
.and skill than has Mr. Selous. 

This hunting of big game has a double fascination. There 



INTRODUCTION. *31 

is the fascination that all big game hunters confess to — the danger 
of it for one thing, and which to many is lure alone. That is one 
side of the fascination that it holds. The other is for the stay-at- 
Tiomes and those who follow big game hunting by reading about it. 
It is interesting to note that since the first publication of the 
ex-President's intention of making a hunting trip to Africa that 
almost as many hunters started for the Dark Continent as usually 
invade the Maine woods at the opening of the hunting season. No 
announcement had ever so popularized that region. 

STRANGE FASCINATION IN HUNTING BIG GAME. 

A New York firm furnished the greater part of the outfit for 
Colonel Roosevelt and his party, more accurately, that part of it 
which has to do with tents, camp equipage, rations, cooking utensils, 
khaki hunting suits and waterproof bags for clothing, hunting boots 
and shoes, pith helmets, sleeping bags and blankets, filters, hunting 
and skinning knives, folding bath tubs, folding brass lanterns, 
bull's-eye lamps, candles, hot water bottles, etc. 

As was explained by this furnisher of hunting outfits, one of 
its chief essentials for an African campaign is a serviceable tent, 
The hunters must have rest at night or else their health will give 
way. And to insure that rest a specially constructed tent is re- 
quired. 

The ones that were provided for Colonel Roosevelt and his 
party were of green waterproof silk — a material so light in texture 
that an entire tent with its telescoping pole weighs only thirteen 
pounds. 

It is essential that its color be green, this because of the fact 
that a rhinoceros, reckoned by big game hunters as the most dan- 
gerous and vicious of all wild animals, will charge a white tent the 
moment he sees it, no matter if the tent were surrounded by a whole 
caravan of attendants. 

One can imagine the restless slumber of a hunter who goes to 
sleep with the knowledge that he might have his life crushed out 
at any moment by the infuriated charge of one of these vicious 
animals. 



32* INTRODUCTION. 

Of the greatest importance was the battery of guns which 
Colonel Roosevelt carried along with him. When it became known 
that he intended to make a hunting expedition into Africa many 
of his friends presented him with guns. But he did not select any 
of these to take with him on his trip. 

Instead, he had made specially for him by one of the best 
American gun manufacturers four different types of rifles, each 
having a special use. 

ONE DISCORDANT NOTE MARS THE PREPARATION. 

Amid all these preparations there was but one discordant note 
— the fear that the former President would fall a victim to some of 
those dreaded and mysterious fevers which have given to Africa 
the title of " The Grave of the White Man. 1 ' 

If these dire predictions did more than cause amusement to 
Colonel Roosevelt, the public never heard of it. Those closest to- 
him say he read them and smiled — smiled in that Rooseveltian way 
that expresses so much — a smile that carried with it even more of 
dogged determination than it did of amusement. 

As for the American people who love him so well, they watched. 
the preparations with the keenest interest, practically free from 
apprehension. They had little fear that the hero of San Juan Hill 
would be unable to take good care of himself under any and all 
circumstances. 

He had slain the moose and the deer, the wild cat and the 
panther, the grizzly and the bison on American soil. What new, 
dangers could Africa offer ? America felt that the unfailing nerve, 
the cold eye, the trained muscle of its most beloved citizen were; 
equal to any emergency. 




ANIMALS, REPTTLES AND FISH OF THE TROPICS 




THE FAMOUS ROOSEVELT EXPEDITION 

"EWS SHOW.NG PART OF THE OUTF.T TAKEN BY COL. ROOSEVELT ON 
HIS TRIP THROUGH THE WILDS OF AFRICA 




ROOSEVELT AS A HUNTER WHEN A YOUNG MAN 




, /VASHINGTON, D. 0. 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT WRITING HIS LAST MESSAGE IN HIS OFFICE 
AT THE WHITE HOUSE 





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SOUTH AFRICAN OSTRICHES 




A MONKEY CHASE 




THE WHITE-TAILED GNU 




BRUSH-TAILED PORCUPINE 




THE MARABOU STORK OF AFRICA 

THE STORK BELONGS TO THE WADING BIRDS, HAVING LONG LEGS 
AND LONG POINTED BILL. IT FURNISHES PLUMES FOR ORNAMENTS 







THE SECRETARY BIRD 

AN INHABITANT OF AFRICA AND IS INVALUABLE IN DESTROYING SNAKES 




THE VULTURE 

A SCAVENGER THAT IS FOUND IN VARIOUS PARTS OF AFRICA 





XPLORING PARTY ON THE MARCH-SCENE IN AFRICA 



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COL. ROOSEVELT AND HIS LIVING QUARTERS WHILE 
IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA 



CHAPTER I. 




Lueeed to Seeep by Roaring Lions — Arrival at Kieindini — 
British Warship Salutes — Great Reception at Mombasa 
— Oee eor the JungeE — The Hunting Grounds at Last- 
Plains Aeive with Game — Others Tele oe Wondereue 
Trip — Prowess Toed in Sketch and Song. 

|w^ OOSEVELT'S ship, the Admiral, on the evening 
of April 21, entered Kilindini harbor, flying 
the American flag at her fore and main- 
masts. She dipped the German ensign 
*3 while passing the British cruiser Pandora, 
. h^t- whose rails and masts were manned by 
--^ffliL. cheering sailors. The Pandora saluted the 
ex-President, who was on the bridge. 

The first word of the sighting of the Admiral brought the 
people of Mombasa in crowds to vantage points, where they might 
catch a glimpse of the distinguished visitor. The Admiral came 
slowly up to the harbor and it was dark when Colonel Roosevelt, 
his son Kermii and the captain were brought ashore In the com- 
mandant's surfboat and carried to a place of shelter in chairs on 
natives' shoulders. 

There was a perfect deluge of rain, but in reply to the expres- 
sions of regret at this, the Colonel said he was glad to get ashore in 
any weather. He added that he was in splendid health and that 
the start to the hunting grounds could not come a minute too soon. 
The Governor's aide boarded the Admiral and extended a 
welcome to Colonel Roosevelt, who received another cordial greeting 
on shore from the provincial commissioner, who conducted him to 
the government house. 

R. F. Cuninghame, the hunter and field naturalist, who had 
charge of the preparations for the expedition, also was on hand at 
the pier. 



3— R„ Ex. 



*33 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. *35 

Colonel Roosevelt was pleased highly when he observed the 
military guard drawn up. He replied to the salute by doffing his 
hat and smiling broadly. The crowds pressing forward to see the 
noted American included Europeans, Indians and natives, and pre- 
sented a picturesque appearance. While genuinely hearty in their 
welcome, the people were not demonstrative. 

The week's voyage from Aden was interrupted only by a short 
stop at Mogadiscio, in Italian Somaliland. A feature of the trip 
was the captain's dinner to Colonel Roosevelt. The saloon was 
decorated artistically and much enthusiasm was shown over the 
speeches which were exchanges of good fellowship. 

SOCIAL AMENITIES IN THE JUNGLE. 

In toasting the ex-President the captain wished him Godspeed 
and a safe return to the United States. Colonel Roosevelt replied, 
first in English and then in German and French. 

It had been the intention of Colonel Roosevelt to remain in 
Mombasa two days, but the floods had been heavy and it was deemed 
advisable to change this plan. The special train, which was to 
carry the ex-President and his party to Sir Alfred Pease's ranch 
on the Athi River, was therefore scheduled to leave at 2 o'clock on 
the following afternoon. 

The acting Governor of the protectorate, Frederick J. Jackson, 
entertained the ex-President at dinner and later they proceeded to 
one of the clubs. 

So far as possible, the Governor and his associates did their 
utmost to meet the special instructions from King Edward to show 
every consideration to the distinguished traveler. 

F. C. Selous, the English hunter, was also a guest at the dinner. 
He was to accompany Colonel Roosevelt on his first shooting expedi- 
tion at the Pease ranch. 

The great American hunter and the members of his party left 
Mombasa on a special train at 2.30 o'clock the next afternoon for 
Kapiti Plains Station, whence they were to be conveyed to the ranch 
of Sir Alfred Pease for their first shooting trip. The party was 
accompanied by F. J. Jackson, acting Governor of the protectorate. 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. *37 

Before leaving Colonel Roosevelt telegraphed to King Edward, 
thanking him for the message of greeting read by Mr. Jackson at 
the dinner given in Colonel Roosevelt's honor at the Mombasa Club 
the preceding night. 

A guard of honor composed of marines and blue jackets from 
the Pandora was at the railroad station when the Roosevelt party 
arrived, and was inspected by Colonel Roosevelt. A number of 
officials and civilians also were present, and the station building was 
decorated with flags. 

The ex-President spent the morning at Government House, 
where he was the guest over night of Mr. Jackson. From Mombasa 
Colonel Roosevelt dispatched a cablegram to the Emperor of Ger- 
many, saying : 

" I desire to express my appreciation of my treatment on board 
the German steamship Admiral, under Captain Doherr, and my 
admiration of the astounding energy and growth of the mercantile 
and colonial interests of Germany in East Africa." 

SIGNIFIES PLEASURE AT RECEPTION ACCORDED. 

At the banquet Mr. Jackson said that Colonel Roosevelt had 
left the " Big Stick " at home, and after seven years as President 
of the United States had come out to Africa to make use of the rifle. 
In conclusion he promised the distinguished visitor an immense 
variety of game and good sport. 

When Colonel Roosevelt arose to reply he was enthusiastically 
received with full Highland musical honors. He began with a 
tribute to the British people for their energy and genius in civilizing 
the uncivilizing places of the earth. He said he was surprised at 
what he had heard of the progress of British East Africa, but he 
warned his hearers that they could not expect to achieve in a short 
time what it had taken America twenty generations to accomplish. 

He then emphasized the necessity of leaving local questions to 
be solved by the authorities on the spot, and commented on the fact 
that the people at home knew little of affairs abroad. In this con- 
nection he instanced the United States and the Philippine Islands. 

Continuing, Colonel Roosevelt expressed his great pleasure at 




GIRAFFES IN THEIR NATIVE RESORTS. 



38* 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. *39 

the welcome given him that day by the British cruiser Pandora, 
whose rails and masts were manned by cheering sailors when the 
Admiral came into the harbor. He said he believed in peace, but 
considered that strength meant peace, and he hoped that all the 
great nations would provide themselves with this means to the end. 
Colonel Roosevelt was followed by Mr. Selous, who expressed 
the hope that Colonel Roosevelt would in the future use the power 
of his position to bring about an entente between Great Britain and 
Germany. 

THE HUNTING GROUNDS AT LAST ! 

Theodore Roosevelt reached the hunting grounds the following 
day and that night he spent his first night in Africa under canvas. 
A big camp had been established near the railroad station at Kapiti 
Plains for the Roosevelt expedition, and only the preceding night 
lions were prowling about in the vicinity of the tents. The country 
was green, owing to the recent rains, and there was every prospect 
of good sport. The commoner varieties of game were exceptionally 
plentiful, and the huntsmen lost no time in getting started on their 
shooting trips. 

The special train bearing the party from Mombasa arrived at 
half-past one o'clock in the afternoon. Only the members of the 
party got off at Kapiti Plains. F. J. Jackson, the Acting Governor 
of the protectorate, and the other officials who came up from Mom- 
basa, continued on to Nairobi. 

The camp established for Roosevelt was most elaborate. The 
caravan had a total of 260 followers. There were thirteen tents for 
the Europeans and their horses and sixty tents for the porters. An 
American flag was flying over the tent occupied by Colonel Roose- 
velt. All the native porters of the expedition were lined up on the 
platform when the special pulled in, and as Colonel Roosevelt stepped 
down from the train they shouted a salute in his honor. In response 
Colonel Roosevelt raised his hat. 

The ex-President was welcomed at the station by Sir Alfred 
Pease, who was to be his host on the Athi River. Colonel Roosevelt 



40* TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. 

was dressed in a khaki suit and a white helmet. The weather was 
bright and warm. 

Colonel Roosevelt, F. J. Jackson, F. C. Selous and Major 
Mearns rode on a broad seat attached to the cow catcher of the 
locomotive from Mombasa as far as Mackinnon road, a distance of 
about fifty miles. The visitors were delighted with this experience, 
and Colonel Roosevelt was deeply impressed with the marvelous 
scenery that unfolded itself to his view. 

They had a magnificent view of snow-capped Kilimanjaro. 
Plenty of game was seen from the train, including about twenty 
giraffes, with their young, close to the line; wildebeestes, harte- 
beestes, waterbucks, zebras, duikers, guinea fowl, ostriches in great 
number, and one rhinoceros, with the rhinoceros birds on his back. 

AN ADVENTUROUS AND INDESCRIBABLE JOY RIDE. 

The other passengers on the special train included Mr. Sandi- 
ford, local superintendent of the railroad line; Mr. Cruikshank, the 
traffic manager; W. J. Monson, secretary of the administration; J. 
H. Wilson, a member of the Legislative Council, and R. F. Cuning- 
hame. 

The party was scheduled to have several days in camp before 
going on to Nairobi. At the conclusion of the visit with Sir Alfred 
Pease Colonel Roosevelt was to go to the Ju Ja ranch and be the guest 
of George McMillan. After this he was to shoot buffalo at Hugh 
Heatley's kamid ranch, fifteen miles from Nairobi, on the Forthall 
road. 

Before leaving Mombasa Colonel Roosevelt received an address 
of welcome from the American missionaries. He expressed a de- 
termination to visit at least three mission stations while in the Pro- 
tectorate. That night he was lulled to sleep by the music of the 
lions' roaring. 

But it never will do to dismiss the delights of these first few 
days on African soil in so light a manner. Let us review the 
country traversed and tell of it in the language of other distin- 
guished travelers. 

One writer says : " The aspect of Mombasa as she rises from the 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. 



*41 



sea and clothes herself with form and color at the swift approach 
of the ship is alluring and even delicious. But to appreciate all 
these charms the traveler should come from the North. He should 
see the hot stones of Malta, baking and glistening on a steel-blue 
Mediterranean. 

" He should visit the Island of Cyprus before the Autumn rains 
have revived the soil, when the Messaoria Plain is one broad wilder- 
ness of dust, when every tree — be it only a thorn-bush — is an heir- 
loom, and every drop of water is a jewel. He should walk for two 
hours at middav in the streets of Port Said. He should thread the 




PECULIAR AFRICAN BULLOCK. 

long, red furrow of the Suez Canal, and swelter through the trough 
of the Red Sea. 

" He should pass a day among the cinders of Aden, and a week 
among the scorched rocks and stones of Northern Somaliland; and 
then, after five days of open sea, his eye and mind will be prepared 
to salute with feelings of grateful delight these shores of vivid and 
exuberant green. 

" On every side is vegetation, moist, tumultuous, and varied. 
Great trees, clad in dense foliage, shrouded in creepers, springing 
from beds of verdure, thrust themselves through the undergrowth ; 
palms laced together by flowering trailers; every kind of tropical 



42* 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. 



plant that lives by rain and sunshine; high, waving grass, brilliant 
patches of purple bougainvillea, and in the midst, dotted about, 
scarcely keeping their heads above the fertile flood of nature, the 
red-roofed houses of the town and port of Mombasa. 

" The vessel follows a channel twisting away between high 




HUNTING THE OSTRICH. 

bluffs, and finds a secure anchorage, land-locked, in forty feet of 
water at a stone's throw from the shore. Here we are arrived at 
the gate of British East Africa; and more, at the outlet and de- 
bouchment of all the trade of all the countries that lap the Victoria 
and Albert Lakes and the head waters of the Nile. 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. *43 

" Along the pier now being built at Kilindini, the harbor of 
Mombasa Island, must flow, at any rate for many years, the main 
stream of East and Central African commerce. Whatever may 
be the produce which civilized government and enterprise will draw 
from the enormous territories between Southern Abyssinia and 
Lake Tanganyika, between Lake Rudolf and Ruenzori, as far 
west as the head streams of the Congo, as far north as the Lado 
enclave; whatever may be the needs and demands of the numerous 
populations comprised within those limits, it is along the unpre- 
tentious jetty of Kilindini that the whole traffic must pass/' 

Another writer adds : " We left Mombasa by train. The run 
of 327 miles to Nairobi takes twenty-four hours. The afternoon 
of May 4th was an interesting trip and we began to see game about 
four in the afternoon. They were principally tiny deer, standing 
about a foot high. I thought at first they were rabbits, but when I 
saw some close to the train discovered my mistake. 

VARIEGATED SCENERY SURROUNDING MOMBASA. 

' We passed through typical African scenery such as one sees 
in pictures — natives in the scantiest of costumes tending flocks of 
funny looking goats and queer humped cattle, their huts of woven 
sticks daubed with clay and thatched with reeds. There were 
strange trees with long creepers hanging from them, and in parts 
thick jungle that a person would have to cut his path through. 

" Next morning the scene changed and vast plains, in some 
places dotted with trees, and in some bare, were seen on all sides. 
Shortly before coming to Nairobi we passed the Athi plains, cele- 
brated for their game. People are not allowed to shoot near the 
railroad, so one sees herds of zebras and hartebeeste, gnus, looking 
at a little distance like our buffalo, ostriches, pea deer, stembuck, 
Grant's gazelle and tiny "tommies" (Thompson gazelle). These 
have very pretty horns and a black line running from the rump to 
the lower part of the shoulder, and little black tails which they whisk 
incessantly." 

But Mr. Winston Churchill's description of the trip is even 
more vivid, perhaps the best ever written. In it he says : " We may 



44* TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. 

divide the journey into four main stages — the jungles, the plains, 
the mountains, and the lake, for the lake is an essential part of the 
railway, and a natural and inexpensive extension to its length. In 
the early morning, then, we start from Mombasa Station. 

" For a quarter of an hour we are still upon Mombasa Island, 
and then the train, crossing the intervening channel by a long iron 
bridge, addresses itself in earnest to the continent of Africa. Into 
these vast regions the line winds perseveringly upon a stiff upgrade, 
and the land unfolds itself ridge after ridge and valley after valley. 

" All day long the train runs upward and westward, through 
broken and undulating ground clad and encumbered with super- 
abundant vegetation. Beautiful birds and butterflies fly from 
tree to tree and flower to flower. Deep, ragged gorges, filled by 
streams in flood, open out far below us through glades of palms and 
creeper-covered trees. 

PLANTATIONS OF RUBBER, FIBRE AND COTTON. 

" Here and there, at intervals, which will become shorter every 
year, are plantations of rubber, fibre, and cotton, the beginnings of 
those inexhaustible supplies which will one day meet the yet un- 
measured demand for those indispensable commodities. Every few 
miles are little trim stations, with their water tanks, signals, ticket- 
offices, and flower beds complete and all of a pattern, backed by 
impenetrable bush. 

4 In brief, one slender thread of scientific civilization of order, 
authority, and arrangement, drawn across the primeval chaos of 
the world. 

' In the evening a cooler, crisper air is blowing. The humid 
coast lands, with their glories and their fevers, have been left 
behind. At an altitude of four thousand feet we begin to laugh at 
the Equator. The jungle becomes forest, not less luxuriant, but 
distinctly different in character. The olive replaces the palm. The 
whole aspect of the land is more friendly, more familiar, and no less 
fertile. 

" After Makindu Station the forest ceases. The traveler 
enters upon a region of grass. Immense fields of green pasture, 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. 



*45 



withered and whitened at this season by waiting for the rains, 
intersected by streams and watercourses densely wooded with dark, 
fir-looking trees and gorse-looking scrub, and relieved by bold up- 
standing bluffs and ridges, comprise the new panorama. 

" And here is presented the wonderful and unique spectacle 
which the Uganda Railway offers. 

' The plains are crowded with wild animals. From the win- 
dows of the carriage the whole zoological gardens can be seen dis- 
porting itself. Herds of ante- 
lope and gazelle, troops of zebrasgjgjjjj 
—sometimes four or five hund- 
red together — watch the traing 
pass with placid assurance, orB 
scamper a hundred yards further^ 
away, and turn again. jg™* 

" Many are quite close to. 
the line. With field glasses one 




can see that it is the same every-® 

where, and can distinguish longfe 

files of black wildebeests and 

herds of red kongoni — the^. 

hartebeests of South Africa 

and wild ostriches walking se-j| 

dately in two and threes, and^ 

every kind of small deer and 

gazelle. The zebras come close 5 ^ 

enough for their stripes to b( 

admired with the naked eye, showing little or no sign of fear. 

" We have arrived at Simba, ' The Place of Lions,' and there 
is no reason why the passengers should not see one, or even half-a- 
dozen, stalking across the plain, respectfully observed by lesser 
beasts. Indeed, in the early days it was the custom to stop and 
sally out upon the royal vermin whenever met with, and many the 
lion that has been carried back to the tender in triumph before the 
guard, or driver, or any one else could think of time-tables, or the 



GAZELLES. 



46* TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. 

block system, or the other inconvenient restrictions of a regular 
service. 

" Further up the line, in the twilight of the evening, we saw, 
not a hundred yards away, a dozen giraffes lollopping off among 
scattered trees, and at Nakuru six yellow lions walked in leisurely 
mood across the rails in broad daylight. 

" Only the rhinoceros is absent, or rarely seen, and after one 
of his species had measured his strength, unsuccessfully, against an 
engine, he has confined himself morosely to the river-beds and to the 
undisturbed solitudes which, at a distance of two or three miles, 
everywhere engulf the Uganda Railway." Could anything be more 
graphic ? 

Before leaving Mombasa, Colonel Roosevelt heard his prowess 
as a lion-killer told in song and sketch at the entertainment given 
by the " Nairobi Follies," which Colonel Roosevelt and his son, 
Kermit, attended as the guests of His Excellency, Mr. F. J. Jackson, 
C. G., C. M. G., Acting Governor, as an evening's diversion after 
dining at Government House. The topical songs dealing with 
Colonel Roosevelt were a feature of the occasion and at each allu- 
sion made to himself, Colonel Roosevelt's laugh. rang out above the 
applause and laughter of the rest of the audience. 

The song describing Colonel Roosevelt's lion hunting was sung 
by Miss Shooter, in the course of a sketch, entitled " A Tale of the 
Chase." It ran as follows : 

" FELIS LEO." 

A lion lurked in his lonely lair. 

As African lions do. 
For he liked to be where he could get a share, 

Of a nice little buck with a slice of luck. 

In our wonderful Nature zoo, 
His large inside he nightly fed with zebra or hartebeest instead. 

" There isn't a scrap of doubt," said he, 
" This diet's exceedingly good for me, 
" For I grow fat, fat, fatter. 
" What on earth does it mat, mat, matter. 



TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OV \TION. *47 

" If the way that I creep, on the beasts in their sleep, 
" Makes the poor things scat, scat, scatter." 

He hunted game in the moonshine bright. 

With never a thought of harm, 
But he got quite a fright, when there hove in sight, 
Teddy armed to the teeth with a knife and sheath, 

And a rifle beneath his arm. 
The Colonel plugged him with a laugh. 
While Kermit took his photograph. 
Said he, " Those Wall Street boys would cry, 
" If they knew how near I'd been to die, 
" Oh, this country's bull, bull, bully, 
" I've enjoyed it full, full, fully. 

" For it euchres the best they can show in the West, 
" That's so wild and wool, wool, wooly." 

Another song, entitled " B. E. A." (British East Africa), 
recounted some of Colonel Roosevelt's experiences in the colony, 
as follows: 

B. E. A. 

(With apologies to Kipling.) 

At the port of Kilindini, 

Looking eastward 'cross the main ; 
We welcomed Teddy Roosevelt, 

As we hope to do again. 
And the rain it fell in torrents, 

And the world seemed far from gay; 
But we did our best to greet him in 

OUR way in B. E. A. 

He traveled up the railway, 

And he said the sights were GRAND, 
And he also said " THAT'S BULLY," 

As we well can understand ; 
For the game is here in thousands, 

And it's here we'd have him stay ; 
Just to see giraffes and rhinos 

Near the rail in B. E. A. 



& 



48* TRIP OUTWARD A POPULAR OVATION. 

We heard of hand- fed lions, 

And of rhinos on the chain ; 
How he bravely faced all dangers, 

And deadly beasts has slain ; 
Still, we've nothing heard BUT rumors, 

That's a truth we must confess; 
We have no truthful story for 

He shut out all the press. 

Yes, he shut out all the press, 
And he left them there to guess ; 

They raved, and growled, and grumbled, 
They were left in such a mess ! 

But that's all passed and done with, 

For they were not far away ; 
And their news is scattered broadcast, 

Over all the world to-day ; 
Still, he sent in news on Tuesday, 

It is nice to be polite ; 
But the New York papers had it 

On the previous Sunday night. 

Oh ! it really was a frost, 
And one finds it to his cost, 

If he tries to baulk the press men, 
He is very often lost. 





CHAPTER II. 

Three Lions with Three Bullets— Wildebeest or Gnu was 
Roosevelt's First Victim— Son's Expedition Without 
Father— Smallpox Breaks Out in the Camp— Hunt 
Delayed by Missing Baggage. 

EARNING of years at last was on the verge 
of satisfaction. Theodore Roosevelt was 
where, in all the world, he most desired 
to be — in the heart of Africa, snrronnded 
by the most majestic game the earth 
affords. The first night of the Roosevelt expedition 
under canvas in Africa was spent in the elaborate 
camp set np for the party near the railroad station at Kapiti 
Plains. It was without incident save that the plains resounded 
with the night roaring of an unfenced Zoo. 

No decision yet had been reached as to when the expedition 
would leave. Some of the baggage sent by the Smithsonian Insti- 
tute was left behind at Mombasa, and this fact threatened to cause 
a delay in the start of the shooting trips of two or three days. It 
was rumored that the baggage in question was stolen on board the 
steamer Admiral, but these statements were eventually proven with- 
out foundation. 

Col. Roosevelt, who arose the next morning in splendid spirits, 
forbare all the members of his expedition to give out any informa- 
tion regarding the future plans or movements of the party. 

He was much annoyed to receive word that the Mombasa 
Standard has published a violently worded attack upon Mr. F. J. 
Jackson, the Acting Governor of the protectorate, and Col. Roose- 
velt, for allowing only representatives of American newspapers 
to accompany the Roosevelt special train from Mombasa to Kapiti 
Plains. 

This attack was copied by the Nairobi newspapers, and it is 
said that the imperial government asked an explanation from the 

4-R. Ex. *49 



50 ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 

local authorities of this exclusion of English newspaper men. An 
exception was made in the case of the representative of an English 
news agency, who was allowed to accompany the special. 

Col. Roosevelt spent part of the afternoon sorting his kit, while 
Kermit and several of the men went to try their luck with the 
rifles. An old settler, who seemed to take a liking to Kermit, offered 
to show him a likely place for good sport. They succeeded in bring- 
ing down one buck. 

If ever there was a happy boy on earth, it was when the native 
bearers brought in Kermit's booty and laid it at the feet of the 
former President, whose face beamed with pleasure at his son's 
luck and skill with the rifle. 

Col. Roosevelt's first hunt was favored by fine weather, and 
he enjoyed the experience immensely. He bagged two wildebeests 
and a Thompson's gazelle. 

THE STRANGE WILDEBEESTS. 

The wildebeests, of which Col. Roosevelt killed two, are gen- 
erally know as the gnu, the Hottentot name. This animal is of a 
sub-family of antelopes and resembles a "horned horse." The mane 
and tail are like a horse's. The legs are slender as those of the 
gazelle. 

These animals, when captured young, may be tamed, but if 
caught at a mature age, they behave like mad in captivity. When 
chased on horseback they often give the pursuer a lively time on 
account of their endurance and great speed. The young are play- 
ful and will circle around a caravan for hours showing a marked 
curiosity in everything the traveler is doing. 

The flesh of the gnu is palatable and the horns are made into 
knife handles and other articles. 

The gnu is about the size of a full-grown donkey. The neck 
and tail strikingly resemble those of a small horse, and its pace, 
which is a species of light gallop, is so perfectly similar, that a 
herd of gnus, when seen at a distance scampering over the plains, 
might be easily mistaken for a troop of wild horses, but for their 
dark and uniform color. 



ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 51 

They live in large herds on the great plains. When first 
alarmed, like a restive horse, tossing their heads and tails, and but- 
ting at the mole-hills, or any other object that might be in their 
way; but immediately after, off they start, traversing the ground 
with a speed which soon carries them beyond the reach of danger. 
They do not run in a confused crowd, like sheep or oxen, but in 
single file, following the leader, and exhibiting an agreeable regu- 
larity as they bound over the plains. 

"When hunted they will turn upon the hunter, and pursue 
him, dropping on their knees before making an attack, and then 
darting forward with amazing alacrity and force. 

WONDERFUL ANTIPATHY TO SCARLET. 

"In common with the ox and buffalo," says Captain Harris, 
"the gnu has an unconquerable aversion to scarlet — pawing the 
earth and becoming perfectly furious on the sudden display of that 
color. In situations where these whimsical animals had been ren- 
dered more than usually wild by the incessant persecutions of the 
border colonists, I frequently found it requisite, in order to allure 
the herd within range, to hoist a red pocket handkerchief upon the 
muzzle of my rifle. 

"This exhibition invariably produced the most violent tumult 
and excitement, and caused the whole troop to charge past in single 
file — 'with mane erect and blazing eye' — following their leader, 
flinging out their taper heels, whisking their streaming tails, but- 
ting with their horns in so menacing a manner, and displaying emo- 
tions of such violent frenzy, that I was fain to strike my colors and 
have recourse to my weapons — when they instantly whirled and 
pranced confidently round at a safer distance, headed by their 
swarthy chief." 

It was by means of this exhibition of scarlet, the scent of which 
Mr. Selous revealed to the American, that Col. Roosevelt's first 
game in Africa was enticed within reach of his death-dealing rifle. 

While game was plentiful on the plain, it was exceedingly 
wise and wary. The fame of the Colonel seemed almost to have 
reached the animal kingdom, for no sooner did he appear, rifle in 



52 ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 

hand, than every living creature seemed to vanish as if by magic. 
Then it was that Selous's trained eye detected the presence of a 
pair of wildebeests. 

But they, too, were wary. 

A moment later, however, a red handkerchief was floating 
from the muzzle of the Ex-President's gun. 

The infuriated beasts made a dash for the obnoxious scarlet! 

Crack! 

One stumbled and went down to death. Its now even more 
than ever infuriated mate plunged on straight for the daring hunter. 

He reserved his fire till the last possible moment and then 
pulled the trigger. 

A double kill was the result, and the Colonel smiled while the 
native bearers clapped their hands in glee that the great hunter 
from across the seas had not been lacking in coolness and aim in his 
first encounter on African soil. 

A GRIEVOUS DISAPPOINTMENT. 

In one respect Col. Roosevelt was somewhat disappointed as 
he had been anxious to secure a Grant's gazelle, whose massive 
horns are much sought after for trophies. 

The hunt lasted several hours, and all the members of the 
party were tired out when they returned to camp. 

The Thompson gazelle which Col. Roosevelt shot and the 
Grant's gazelle which he failed to get, are members of a large family. 
The gazelle is one of the most graceful animals known. Its eyes 
are large and liquid and the poets of the East always likened the 
eyes of their lady loves to them. The animal is often hunted with 
greyhounds and falcons. 

When hunted with dogs alone the gazelle easily outstrips the 
pursuit running swiftly and making tremendous leaps over obstacles 
ten feet high without apparent exertion. When a falcon is used 
the bird will rise high in the air and swoop down on its quarry, 
fixing its talons near the long, lyre-shaped horns and harass the 
animal till the hounds come up. 

There are many species of the gazelle, ranging from three feet 







■>' f ■< * H Jf ft 







THE STRANGE SHOE BILL OF AFRICA. 



S4 ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 

in height to five and six feet. The springbok is one of the largest 
species, and it is known to make vertical jumps in the air with its 
legs folded. 

Considerable anxiety was felt because smallpox was prevalent 
at Nairobi, and two cases developed among the porters at Kapiti. 
These were quarantined and the strictest precautions observed to 
prevent a spread of the disease among those attached to the Roose- 
velt party. The danger of this was at first considered slight, but 
later several of the bearers were attacked. 

Pleased with even the small measure of success of their expe- 
dition on the plains, the Ex-President and his party the next day 
broke camp and continued their journey to the ranch of Sir Alfred 
Pease, on the Athi river. 

The rain was falling heavily when they arrived, this giving 
fine promise of good sport. As the torrential downpour continued, 
the party spent the next day indoors resting from the fatigue 
inseparable from the first hunting trip. Seasoned sportsman though 
he was, the former President had not yet gotten hardened as he 
was destined to get within the next few weeks. 

FATHER AND SON HUNT TOGETHER. 

The next day Col. Roosevelt and his son Kermit had sufficiently 
recovered from the fatigue connected with their first shooting trips 
and their journey from Kapiti Plains station to the ranch of Sir 
Alfred Pease, on the Athi river, to go out shooting for small game. 

They were successful in bringing down a Grant's gazelle and a 
hartebeest. 

The Ex-President was especially pleased by his success in bag- 
ging the Grant's gazelle, which he had failed to secure on the first 
expedition. 

Now they were in the very heart of the game country, where 
"small game" especially was very plentiful and all were correspond- 
ingly elated. Col. Roosevelt and Kermit were fully recovered from 
their indisposition, and the Colonel was astir early, anxious to get 
a shot at something and complete preparations for pushing on. 
Both Loring and Heller, however, were showing the strain of pre 



ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 55 

paration and of the climate change. Their indisposition was not 
serious. 

The Colonel shot a couple of bucks during the day, but they 
were not particularly good specimens. However, he got real satis- 
faction from hearing lions roaring all through the night, a promise 
of better sport to come, and he did not chafe at the enforced delay 
as much as might be expected -from a man of his temperament. 

The fact that all hands must be fully acclimatized was being 
more and more impressed on everyone, as only in that manner 
could their arduous program be carried out. 

ANTICIPATIONS TO SOON REACH FULFILMENT. 

But the intrepid Roosevelt could not long remain inactive. 
Hardly waiting for the first effect of the African lassitude to wear 
off, he was eagerly planning for the great feat over which he had 
dreamed for years. 

He wanted to kill a lion ! 

None but the most majestic beast of the jungle would satisfy 
him. 

To slay a lion he was determined, and his restless spirit could 
not brook delay, especially as he lay in bed and heard the deep 
booming roar of the king of beasts as it rang out on the air, night 
after night. 

He was counselled to go slow and to test his aim first on game 
where a miss would be less disastrous, but to no avail. 

"Now is as good as any time," he would reply. "Bring on your 
lions !" 

'- Accordingly, the party soon was hurried into motion. 

The caravan started early Thursday morning from the ranch 
of Sir Alfred Pease and proceeded slowly in the Mau Hills. This 
range is open for wide areas, but in places is covered with dense 
growths, where game is plentiful. 

The first night in camp was without special incident, no 
attempt being made to go after lions, although their call was heard 
now and then during the course of the night, but at dawn the camp 
was astir, and the drive speedily organized. 



ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 57 

The native beaters set out in all directions under the instruc- 
tion of the "headman," armed with all sorts of noise-making devices, 
which could not but arouse any game within earshot. Some of the 
beats proved blanks, but by nightfall no less than ten kinds of game 
had been bagged. 

Kermit during the greater part of the day did more effective 
work with his camera than he did with his gun, he and the other 
members of the party allowing Col. Roosevelt the much-prized shots. 

Mr. Selous accompanied the former President, who also was 
attended by the usual retinue of beaters. As a rule the beaters go 
into the jungle with considerable trepidation, but as Col. Roosevelt's 
reputation as a hunter had reached Africa long before he arrived 
in person, the beaters on this occasion were exceptionally enthu- 
siastic. They seemed even eager to play a part in the first hunt of 
the distinguished American. 

FIRST LION HUNT FULL OF THRILLS. 

Col. Roosevelt's first lion hunt was full enough of thrills to 
last the average man a lifetime, yet it is doubtful if that dauntless 
hunter so much as turned a hair at his marvellous shot, which 
unquestionably saved the life of two members of his party. 

After that one shot, his fame was as secure in Africa as it is 
in America. 

The beaters had discovered three lions in the act of pulling 
down a buffalo, off on the edge of the open ground, where prairie 
and jungle meet. 

Two of the men, one of them a native and the other a white 
employe of Sir Alfred Pease, Col. Roosevelt's host, stealthily 
advanced and strove to disconcert the animals and to drive them in 
the direction of the other members of the party. 

Two of the lions, with that queer psychology so common in 
wild beasts, bounded off into the high grass, and temporarily, at 
least, evaded the sportsmen. 

Not so the third and largest of the trio. With a bound and a 
roar he leaped for the now thoroughly terrified men. One instant 
he was in the air in a grand flying charge. The next— 



58 ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE /UNGLE. 

"Crack!" spoke a rifle full in his face. 

Limp in death the majestic beast crashed to earth and Col. 
Roosevelt's first shot at really big game in Africa had saved two 
lives. 

The Ex-President's fondest ambition had been realized! 

Scarcely had this magnificent beast fallen before the deadly 
aim of the American sportsman, now more than ever a hero among 
these simple children of nature -than one of the beaters who had 
gone up the river-bed close by to get some water, came running 
back to say that a lion had been down to drink at one of the shallow 
sand wells. Col. Roosevelt started at once w T ith two trackers, tell- 
ing his pony-boy to follow on as soon as he could get the pony 
saddled. When tracking, he had been advised always to have the 
pony led some distance behind. The boy ought to have no difficulty 
in following the tracks of two or three men and a lion, and if the 
pony is kept close up, it is sure to stamp or blow its nose at the 
critical moment. 

A TIRESOME JOURNEY FOLLOWING A LION. 

When they got to the well there was the spoor plain enough in 
the sand, but rather blurred by some rain which had fallen at day- 
break. This made the tracking a little difficult after they left the 
river-bed, but when they had followed it slowly for some distance, 
they came to a place where the lion had lain down under a thick bush, 
evidently to shelter from the rain, as the spoor after this was quite 
distinct on the top of the damp ground. 

This made the party think they were in for a short track, for 
it must have been light when the lion went on again, and lions gen- 
erally lie up shortly after the sun rises; but this day proved an 
exception, because it was cloudy and cool through the forenoon. 

The spoor now led along a sandy path, where they could follow 
it as fast as they could walk. When it turned off into the bush, all 
quite expected to see the lion at any moment ; but not a bit of it — he 
wandered about through endless clumps of mimosa and "irgin" 
bushes, as if he did not mean to lie up at all. 

The track at last led down a little sandy watercourse, which it 



ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 59 

followed for some distance. Up to this time the trackers had had 
no real difficulty in making it out, but now came the first serious 
check. 

The nullah turned off along the side of a stony ridge, and, 
instead of going along it, the lion had turned up the hill. The party 
had got the general direction that the lion had been going in, but 
this was no good, as on casting forward in the same line to the bot- 
tom of the other side of the ridge where there was some sandy 
ground, they could find no sign of his having passed in that direction. 

Nonplussed the party halted for a few minutes, but Col. Roose- 
velt, having tasted blood, could not long restrain his impatience. 

"Another lion," he was heard to mutter, "won't that be a grand 
climax for the day's hunt?" 

A MOMENT OF IMPATIENCE. 

Impatiently he strode back and forth while the trackers spent 
some time hunting about, growing less hopeful as time went on. 
A man following a trail by sight certainly has an enormous advan- 
tage over a hound hunting it by nose, because time is of no particular 
object to him, and every direction can be tried in turn. After mak- 
ing out east forward they went back to the little watercourse, and 
followed that down for some distance, hoping that the lion had 
turned down hill again; but here, too, they were disappointed, and 
gravitated back to where they had first lost the spoor. The trackers 
knew that the lion had not gone straight on, nor had he turned 
back; he must have gone along the top of the ridge and then crossed 
into other stony hills where it was hopeless to try to track him. 

In the meantime Selous, with half a dozen beaters, came up. 
On hearing of what had been done, Selous, who is never defeated, 
said there was a big river-bed further on in the direction in which 
the lion was going. It seemed a very slender chance, as he might 
have turned off anywhere in between, but it was the only one, so 
off all went. 

They were evidently in luck that day, for they had only gone 
about a quarter of a mile when the trackers struck the spoor. The 
lion seemed now to have made up his mind as to his direction, for 



60 ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 

he kept on straight down the middle of the river-bed. The sun had 
come out from behind the clouds, and in places the sand was very 
deep, so that the American was not sorry when at last the track 
led into a little island of bush in the great flat sand. 

There was no doubt the lion was at home, for on casting round 
no sign was perceptible of a track coming out. The island, raised 
a little above the river-bed, was formed of a mass of thick-tangled 
bush and creepers clustered round a few big trees. The water com- 
ing down the river after heavy rain had washed it roughly into 
the form of a triangle, the apex of which pointed up the river. 
From this point the sides widened out to the other end, which was 
about thirty yards broad, the whole length being somewhat under a 
hundred yards. 

Now, more than ever, the Ex-President's impetuous tempera- 
ment asserted itself, but Selous, the veteran huntsman, who had 
slain scores of lions, counselled caution. 

A DANGEROUS AND TRYING SITUATION. 

Accordingly he posted Col. Roosevelt on a spit of land opposite 
the point of the island, while the beaters began to rain stones from 
the other side. 

At the first stone there was a growl and a crash in the bushes 
and then, for a minute or two, not a sound. The men started to 
walk down, one on each side, shooting and throwing in stones. Col. 
Roosevelt was watching them, and wondering what had happened 
to the lion, when there was a faint crackling just in front, and he 
appeared at the point of the island. Although the Colonel was 
standing within a few yards of him, and absolutely in the open, he 
did not see him. 

He was facing straight towards Selous and the Ex-President, 
and was so close that the Colonel did not like to fire at him as, on 
receiving the bullet, he would be very likely to plunge in the direction 
he was going and be upon them ; nor did he want him to come any 
closer; so, as he stepped down on the sand, he moved his rifle up 
towards the shoulder to attract his attention. He saw the move- 



ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 61 

ment at once, stopped dead and turned his head sharply towards 
the huntsman. 

With an angry snarl he made one bound in the direction of the 
American. He was so close that the dauntless hunter could almost 
feel the beast's fetid breath in his face. 

But that bound was his last. 

One shot from the rifle of the former President laid him low. 
The bullet caught him straight in the heart while he was at the 
highest point of his leap and the great body of the tawny brute 
crashed to earth to rise no more. 

Coolly adjusting his glasses the Colonel strode over to where 
the giant form lay stretched. Then with a smile he turned to Selous : 

"That's a fine one, eh, Selous?" he said. 

"And magnificently shot, too," rejoined the Englishman with 
a zest in which the native beaters joined. 

Another gazelle next fell prey to the Ex-President's unerring 
aim, but he merely glanced at the carcass before he remarked : 

"I think I prefer lions for targets. Let's find another one." 

COLONEL ROOSEVELT GETS A THIRD LION. 

And find another one they did. The encounter was scarcely 
less dramatic and dangerous than the other two, and once again 
did the American's aim prove so true that but one bullet was neces- 
sary to end its life. 

Once again did Col. Roosevelt prove his prowess, but this time, 
instead of standing and letting the beast do the charging, Roosevelt 
himself, his eyes snapping with surprised excitement, but other- 
wise as cool as he had been on another memorable morning when 
he led his troops in the face of the Spanish fire, advanced upon a 
raging lion, angry at having been roused from its morning nap. 

One of the excited bearers fired first at the beast, but missed. 
The terrified bearer then made a wild dash to get under Col. Roose- 
velt's protection, but the lion was close upon him when the former 
President rushed to meet him. 

He was almost too late! 

The animal was crouching for that last spring which, had it 



62 ROOSEVELT'S EXPERIENCE IN THE JUNGLE. 

been consummated, would have snuffed out the life of the helpless 
native like a candle. 

But that leap it never was to take! 

The former President was advancing along a line at an acute 
angle to the beast's path, but on the animal's right, so that his 
heart could not be reached. His head, too, was down in the tall 
grass, thus destroying any chance for an accurate aim. 

And that shot must be accurate or a man's life would pay the 
forfeit. 

With that quick decision for which he is famous, Roosevelt 
threw his rifle to his shoulder and, aiming at the only other vulner- 
able spot, the spine, split it with one ball. 

The beater's life was saved. 

Most marvellous of all, the shot that killed Col. Roosevelt's 
third lion was made while the Ex-President was on a run. 

Small wonder that the natives called him The Lion Slayer. 



CHAPTER III. 

Kermit Slays an Enraged Lioness — Three of His Volley oe 
Bullets Bring Death — A Brave Deed — Natives Scatter 
Like Chafe — Tracking the King of Beasts— Jubilant 
over Success — Closing in on the Prey — Novice Easily 
Fooled — Tales Around Campeire. 



T?ll /J^'*'ft ! ' i i K ^T us ' however, for the moment follow 

Kermit's fortunes on that happy morning, 




a morning that will live long in his 
memory. 
While his distinguished father and Mr. Selous were off 
in one direction, Kermit, accompanied by Sir Alfred Pease 
and a native white man of Dutch birth, went off in another, accom- 
panied by a score of native trackers and beaters. 

They had gone only about a mile from camp when the natives 
set up a great shouting from the far side of a small clump of 
bushes that stood on the edge of a large wood. 

They rushed round to the other side of the thicket just in time 
to see a fine lioness come out. Kermit could not get a clear shot at 
once, and when he did, after running some distance, he was shaking 
so that he could not get on her at all, and missed. She kept lobbing 
along just ahead, every Efipw and then stopping to look around and 
show her teeth. Each time she stopped some one shot, but so badly 
that they wasted seven bullets at different ranges without touching 
her. 

The first six did not seem to annoy her at all, but the last hit 
the ground just under her teeth, and either the bullet so close 
frightened her or a stone hit her, for she sprang off with a snarl 
and a flourish of her tail, and, putting on the pace, in a minute or 
two ran clean away and vanished into the thicket. 

It was then deemed advisable to separate, the other two white 
men skirting the bushes and joining the natives, while Kermit 

*63 




LION LEAPING OVER A STOCKADE 

Col. Roosevelt Killed Three Large Lions Like the above During 
His First Day's Hunt in Africa. 




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NATIVES CHASING ELEPHANTS 
Col. Roosevelt has Killed Several Fine Specimens. 







ENCOUNTER WITH BABOONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA 
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STARTLING ENCOUNTER OF NATIVES WITH A LION 



TRACKING THE LION TO HIS LAIR. *S5 

lagged behind and half-concealed himself in the tall grass, ready 
for a shot should the beast be driven out by his companions. 

It was a lucky move. Scarcely had he posted himself when 
the lioness broke cover on the right and bounded into the midst of 
the group of natives. A bombshell fired into a sleeping camp could 
not have produced a greater sensation. The lioness, ignoring the 
blacks that scattered like chaff at her approach, bounded straight 
for the two white men. Both fired and both again missed. A 
second shot from Sir Alfred also failed to take effect. 

The snarling beast was almost upon his now thoroughly 
affrighted antagonists when Kermit, who had dashed through the 
little thicket and out into the open behind the lioness. 

KERMIT ROOSEVELT ENCOUNTERS HIS FIRST LION. 

In an instant he saw the peril of his friends. Throwing his 
repeating rifle to his shoulder he began pouring bullets upon the 
lioness. 

Fortunately the spot where Kermit had emerged from the 
thicket was somewhat to the left of a direct line between Sir Alfred 
and the lioness so that the lad was able to pour out a steady stream 
of bullets without danger of hitting his companions. 

Finally she collapsed almost at the feet of Sir Alfred, with 
three bullets in her body. 

That night four lions were trophies of ex-President Roosevelt's 
camp in the Mau Hills, and the 200 or more native followers were 
joining with the American party in the celebration of the unusually 
good luck. 

Both father and son were jubilant. So magnificent a kill was 
far beyond their expectations, but lions had been plentiful in the 
hills for the past month, and the English hunter, F. C. Selous, had 
been out for several days laying plans for their capture. To him 
much of the success of the hunt was due. 

But before we leave the party for the night, it may be well to 
tell, in the words of a famous hunter, how lions are tracked and ■ 
slain by others. He says : 

" I have at another time described two different methods of 

5— R. Ex. 



66* TRACKING THE LION TO HIS LAIR. 

hunting lions. One of them could hardly be called a method at all, 
as it depends on news brought in by natives as to where a lion had 
actually been seen. The second plan consisted of tying up a donkey 
for a bait, and sitting up to watch at night. A much more inter- 
esting way of hunting lions than either of these and a very success- 




ins MAJESTY, THE LION. 

ful one, if the native shikaries employed are any good, is this process 
of tracking them. 

" A lion lies up in some cool, shady place for the day, unless 
the sky is overcast and the sun cannot get out, when he will occa- 
sionally be found hunting at any hour. If you can strike his spoor 
of the night before there is a very good chance of following it up 
to where the lion lies, should the ground be suitable. There is no 
form of hunting so exciting as this. 

' When the spoor is found there is generally nothing to show if 
you have struck it early or late in the lion's wanderings, so that it is 
quite a chance whether it leads you for hours over all sorts of 



TRACKING THE LION TO HIS LAIR. *67 

country, or whether, after half a mile down on a sandy river bed 
or path, it turns off into a thick patch of reeds or bush close by, 
where the lion is lying." 

Then, warming up to his subject, he continues: " It is extra- 
ordinary how the excitement grows as time goes on, and still you 
keep the track sometimes very slowly, where only now and then 
part of a footprint can be seen on a soft place between the stones, 
at other times as fast as you can walk over soil where the track is 
visible many yards ahead. And when the spoor is lost and minute 
after minute goes by while you cast about vainly in every direction, 
how r wretched you are, and how r quickly your spirits rise again 
when a low whistle or snapping of the fingers announces that one 
of the trackers has hit it off further on ! 

STRANGE FASCINATION IN CHASING THE LION. 

" At last certain signs show that you are getting near the end; 
the trackers take off their sandals and tuck up their loin-cloths 
under their belts, lest a corner flapping in the wind should scare 
the lion. 

" For the first time you take your rifle from the native who has 
had charge of it, and, with your head shikari carrying a second rifle, 
steal forward until the lion is sighted or ringed in a small clump 
of bush. Then, when all is over, and the skin is being taken off, how 
pleasant it is to sit in the shade, listening to the excited talk of the 
natives, and letting your nerves quiet down again after the hopes 
and fears of the morning. 

" You ride home to camp with the lion skin behind your saddle, 
while one of your men after another gives his version of the morn- 
ing's proceedings in a hunting song. 

" On the other hand, when you get a shot, and miss after a 
long and difficult track, it seems as if any number of lions killed 
in the future will never make up for the loss of this one. The ride 
home to camp is then a silent one, as no lion means no sheep for the 
men, and they are correspondingly downhearted." 

But one is easily fooled, especially if one is a novice. The 
spoor of the large spotted hyena is not unlike that of a lioness on 




Mmmmsm 



TRACKING THE LION TO HIS LAIR. 



*69 



certain ground, but the difference can easily be told, because a hyena 
has claws like a dog, whereas the retractive claws of a lion are 
always sheathed and leave no mark. 

The best way to find spoor is to look for it yourself with good 
trackers. Should there be any villages near camp which lions have 
been in the habit of raiding it is very necessary to get there as 



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LIONS CAPTURING A BUFFALO. 

early as possible in the morning. If once the large flocks of sheep 
and goats and herds of camels which have been shut up in the 
villages all night are let out the ground all about is a mass of indis- 
tinguishable footprints, and every path from the village is choked 
with long strings of beasts going off to their feeding grounds. 
Hitting off a lion's spoor under these circumstances is almost im- 
possible, and the dust raised by the herds is very disagreeable. 

Besides villages, any well in the neighborhood is a good place 
to look for spoor. If a lion is about there ought to be no difficulty 
in picking up his spoor within a day or two. 



70* TRACKING THE LION TO HIS LAIR. 

For his part the lion is no seeker of quarrels; he is often 
described in accents of contempt. His object throughout is to save 
his skin. If, being unarmed, you meet six or seven lions unex- 
pectedly, all you need do — according to my information — is to speak 
to them sternly and they will slink away, while you throw a few 
stones at them to hurry them up. All the highest authorities recom- 
mend this. 

But when pursued from place to place, chased hither and 
thither by the wheeling horsemen, the naturally mild disposition of 
the lion becomes embittered. First he begins to growl and roar at 
his enemies, in order to terrify them and make them leave him in 
peace. Then he darts little short charges at them. Finally, when 
every attempt at peaceful persuasion has failed, he pulls up abruptly 
and offers battle. 

WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH. 

Once he has done this he will run no more. He means to 
fight, and to fight to the death. He means to charge home: and 
when a lion, maddened with the agony of a bullet wound, distressed 
by long and hard pursuit, or, most of all, a lioness in defense of 
her cubs, is definitely committed to the charge, death is the only 
possible conclusion. 

Broken limbs, broken jaws, a body raked from end to end, 
lungs pierced through and through, entrails torn and protruding — 
none of these count. It must be death— instant and utter — for 
the lion, or down goes the man, mauled by septic claws and fetid 
teeth, crushed and crunched, and poisoned afterward to make 
doubly sure. Such are the habits of this cowardly animal. 

It is at the stage when the lion has been determinedly " bayed " 
that the sportsman from London or New York is usually intro- 
duced upon the scene. He has, we may imagine, followed the riders 
as fast as the inequalities of the ground, his own want of training 
and the burden of a heavy rifle will allow him. He arrives at the 
spot where the lion is cornered in much the same manner as the 
matador enters the arena, the others standing aside deferentially, 
ready to aid or divert the lion. 



TRACKING THE LION TO HIS LAIR. *71 

If his bullet kills he is, no doubt, justly proud. If it only 
wounds, the lion charges the nearest horseman. For forty yards 
the charge of a lion is swifter than the gallop of a racehorse. The 
riders, therefore, usually avoid waiting within that distance. But 
sometimes they do not ; or sometimes the lion sees the man who has 
shot him ; or sometimes all sorts of things happen which make good 
stories — afterwards. 

Who can doubt that around the campfire that night, were 
gathered the happiest group in all Africa. His muscles already 
beginning to take on the hardness that comes of the jungle, the 
former President sat back in lazy contentment and listened to the 
stories told by the other hunters. 

Kermit, proudly sitting at his father's side, for the first time 
felt that he too was of this hardy breed of man who have faced the 
lion in his lair and laid him low. His pride in his accomplishment 
was natural and is not to be denied. Nor was he alone in his satis- 
faction. His father beamed upon him proudly, the brave son of a 
noble sire. 

It would take a volume in itself to recount the stories of hair- 
breadth escapes told that night around the gleaming fire. 




CHAPTER IV. 

OFF FOR TFIF AFRICAN WlLDS-ENTHUSlASTIC GATHERING OF 

" Home Folks "-Forts Thunder Salute as Ship Sails- 
Ovation Tremendous, Though Unofficial-Taft Sends 
Present-Talks to Newspaper Men-Tribute from 
Italians— Story of the Voyage. 

ASCINATING as were Roosevelt's first days 

in Africa, it will perhaps be well, for the time 

being, to leave the happy hunters grouped 

about the camp fire, after that glorious day's 

shooting, and to retrace the trip of the great American from 

the time he left his native land until he landed on the shores 

of the Dark Continent. 

Former President Roosevelt's departure from Ins home town 
at 7 o'clock on the morning of March 23, 1909, was marked by an 
enthusiastic gathering of his fellow-citizens at the stetoon to tad 
him Godspeed. Colonel Roosevelt shook hands with those who 
pressed about him for a parting greeting, and there was a lusty 
cheer as the train moved out. , 

Colonel Roosevelt was up with the sun and immediately all was 
astir at Sagamore Hill making ready for the three-mile drive to the 
station Kermit appeared alternately happy at the prospect of an 
exciting trip and not a little dejected at leaving home 

Colonel Roosevelt bade good-bye to the family at the house and 
drove down to the station with Kermit and little Ouentin, who sat 
on the front seat with Noah Seaman, the family driver, the ex- 
President wore his light buff army overcoat with the colonel s insig- 
nia on the sleeve, and Kermit wore a coat of similar cloth and 

Tt the station Colonel Roosevelt kissed Ouentin good-bye and 
there was a hint of tears in his eyes as he said farewell. He shook 



72* 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *73 

hands warmly with his driver and patted the neck of old Rustin, 
the family horse. " He is a bully good fellow," he said as he 
caressed the animal. 

Waving a parting farewell with his black slouch hat, a few 
hours later, his face beaming in the morning sun as he stood on the 
captain's bridge of the steamship Hamburg, former President 
Roosevelt sailed away from New York for his long planned African 
" Safari." 

He left his native shores amid the cheers of thousands of 
persons who swarmed the Hamburg-American Line pier at 
Hoboken, the whistles of countless river craft and the thunderous 
reverberations of the ex-President's salute of thirteen guns from 
Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth. 

FATHER AND SON ON THE SHIP'S BRIDGE. 

P>eside the happy figure of the former President as the steam- 
ship slipped out of her dock stood a lad, seemingly dejected as he 
wistfully gazed at the cheering multitude on the pier below. It was 
Kermit Roosevelt, who accompanied his father as official photo- 
grapher of the expedition. Father and son, both clad in brilliant 
buff-hued army coats, remained on the bridge on the trip down the 
bay and acknowledged with sweeps of their hats the salutes of the 
vessels. 

The ovation was unofficial in character, but many high in the 
affairs of the nation were present. The crowd in its enthusiasm 
bowled over the lines of policemen on the pier, surrounded the 
former President while a bronze tablet was being presented by the 
Italian- American Chamber of Commerce, and before he was again 
safely back on the sheltering gangplank knocked his hat from his 
head and caused him to drop a vacuum bottle which had been pre- 
sented by Pittsburgh admirers. Colonel Roosevelt was not hurt in 
the rush and seemed to enjoy his experience with the crowd. 

True to his . promise, Colonel Roosevelt made no statements 
regarding his hunt in British East Africa other than to say that he 
probably would be gone about a year and a quarter. Colonel 
Roosevelt eschewed politics to inquiring friends and contented 



74* FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

himself with expressions of pleasure and appreciations of the kindly- 
farewells. 

One incident of the departure which touched Colonel Roosevelt 
probably more than any other was the presentation of a message 
and gift from President Taft by Captain Archibald Butt, who was 
chief military aide to Colonel Roosevelt and holds that position 
under President Taft. Captain Butt had a difficult time in reach- 
ing Colonel Roosevelt. It was imperative that he should do so, as 
he carried a message from the President which required a reply. 
Finally after Colonel Roosevelt had boarded the ship a second time 
Captain Butt reached him in his stateroom. 

PARTING GIFT FROM TAFT: 

Grasping his former aide by the hand with a " By George, it 
is good to see you again, Archie," Colonel Roosevelt drew the Pre- 
sident's messenger aside to talk with him. Captain Butt then 
delivered President Taft's message and a small package containing 
a ruler of gold with pencil attached. It was a collapsible ruler 
twelve inches long when drawn out of the end of the pencil. On it 
was inscribed: "To Theodore Roosevelt from William Howard 
Taft: Goodby and good luck. Best wishes for a safe return." 

When Colonel Roosevelt opened the package he exclaimed, 
" Well, now, isn't that just too fine ! It certainly was thoughtful 
and kind of President Taft to send this to me and I appreciate it 
greatly." 

Turning to Captain Butt he whispered a message for him to 
carry to the White House and said he would reply by wireless 
telegraph to the letter Mr. Taft had sent to him. 

Captain Butt, learning that Mrs. Roosevelt had remained at 
Sagamore Hill, promised Colonel Roosevelt he would go out during 
the afternoon to pay his respects. One of the last acts of Colonel 
Roosevelt before sailing was to send a message to President Taft 
reading : 

" Parting thanks, love and sincerity." 

Friends and political and official associates almost without 
number went aboard the steamship to speed the departing hunter. 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *75 

Only those who were known to Douglas Robinson, brother-in-law 
of Colonel Roosevelt, were admitted to Colonel Roosevelt's suite. 
An eleventh hour decoration in Colonel Roosevelt's main state room 
was the hanging on the walls of portraits of the several members of 
the Roosevelt family and pictures of the White House and Saga- 
more Hill. 

The departure of the Hamburg was delayed until 1 1.06 o'clock 
by Captain Burmeister, so that Major General Wood and his staff 
might board the steamship from the Government tug WyckofT and 
bid 2'oodbv to their former commander-in-chief. 

Former Judge E. H. Gray, Senator Elihu Root, former Secre- 
tary of the Interior James R. Garfield; Robert Bacon, former 
Assistant Secretary of State; Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts; 
Silas McBee, editor of the Churchman; General Bingham, Commis- 
sioner of New York Police, and M. Jusserand, the French Am- 
bassador, and Mine. Jusserand, were noted among the more promi- 
nent visitors. 

COLONEL ROOSEVELT MAKES HIS LAST SPEECH. 

From the forward gangplank of the ship Colonel Roosevelt, 
addressing the Pittsburgh delegation and representatives of various 
organizations that had come to New York to see him off, made his 
last speech. He said: 

" I want to thank the representatives from Pittsburgh who have 
come all this distance to see me off. I am indeed grateful and am 
touched by their thoughtfulness and kindness in coming such a 
long way. I want to thank also all my fellow citizens who came 
to see me off. To you and all Americans T say God bless you." 

The Hamburg presented a pretty marine picture as she steamed 
down the river in the sunlight. Racing alongside the Hamburg 
was a fleet of tugs tooting incessantly. The tugs carried scores of 
Colonel Roosevelt's friends, including Collector of the Port William 
Loeb, Jr., former private secretary to Colonel Roosevelt, and others 
in the Federal service. 

Colonel Roosevelt waved his hat in answer to the cheers of 
those on the tugs, for the high wind prevented any sound of human 



76* FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

voice from carrying across the waters. The Hamburg dipped her 
colors in answer to the salute of the forts and her siren answered 
the frequent whistles of the craft met and passed. 

When the Hamburg was last seen moving eastward in the haze 
that hung over the Atlantic those on the tugs saw a figure high upon 
the bridge waving a last farewell. 

Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit received a continuous ovation 
from the time they landed at the East River terminal of the Long 
Island Railroad from Oyster Bay to the sailing. There was a 
burst of cheers as the ferryboat landed at 34th street and as the 
party whirled through the city streets pedestrians catching a fleeting 
glimpse of the ex-President, cheered, took off their hats and waved 
farewell. 

FIRST TRIP THROUGH THE HUDSON TUBE. 

Colonel Roosevelt took the keenest interest in his first trip 
through the Hudson tube in a special train and took a position in the 
front car so that he might inspect the underground bore. He 
shook the motorman's hand after the trip, saying, " I want to shake 
hands with the man behind the gun." Colonel Roosevelt started 
the first train through the tunnel a year before by pressing a button 
in the White House. 

On the trip from Oyster Bay scores of men and women stopped 
and shook Colonel Roosevelt's hand, wishing him farewell and a 
successful trip. At Long Island City there were only a few who 
recognized Colonel Roosevelt and his son. After a brisk walk they 
boarded the ferryboat Hempstead. Here they were surrounded by 
a crowd of Long Island commuters, who came forward and extended 
their farewells. 

As the Hempstead entered her slip the captain of the boat from 
the pilot house called for " Three cheers for Teddy Roosevelt." 
Instantly there was a burst of cheers which lasted several minutes. 

Colonel Roosevelt was met here by Douglas Robinson, his 
brother-in-law, and Lawrence Abbott. The party proceeded to the 
Hudson tunnel in an automobile. 

To the newspaper men Colonel Roosevelt said : " It's just a fine 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *77 

day to travel and ought to be fine at sea. I have received hundreds 
of telegrams wishing me a safe journey, but I will not give out the 
names of those who sent them. As I have said before, I have no 
statement to make, and it's strange you gentlemen of the press have 
not asked me this morning if I have a message for the American 
people. No, there is nothing to be said, and I really don't know why 
newspaper men should want to travel with me to Naples or Mom- 
basa. Surely there is little likelihood of there being any incidents 
at sea. 

' You tell me that the photographer of Mr. Harmsworth's 
papers, who accompanied the Prince of Wales to India, is going to 
join us at Gibraltar. That will be fine, won't it, Kermit? He can 
help you. I cannot definitely say how long I shall be away, but it 
will be about fifteen months. My lecture at Oxford will take place 
in the spring of 1910. I expect to have a good time, and I am sure 
the expedition will be a success." 

TALKS TO NEWSPAPER MEN. 

Later he received the newspaper men on the Hamburg, when he 
said : " Now, gentlemen, I am glad to see you. What can I tell you? 
Oh, yes; there is that picture (indicating a portrait of President 
Taft). It is very interesting, and very fine, don't you think so? 

" Oh, gentlemen, there is one thing that I desire very much to 
have you say for me. There is an immense mass of mail on board 
this steamship which has come to me and which I have not been able 
to open, and much of which I will not be able to open for some time. 
I have no stenographer with me. 

" Since I left the White House I have received about 5000 or 
6000 letters. Four-fifths of these I have not even seen. My 
thanks to the people who sent them is, however, none the less. Now, 
I wish that you would say for me that it will be only a waste of time 
for any one to write to me while I am in Africa. Again I will say 
that I deeply appreciate the courtesy of those who have written me, 
and take this occasion to give them my thanks." 

More than three thousand persons were crowded on the pier 
when Colonel Roosevelt arrived, and they cheered tumultuously. 



78* 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 



The Hamburg's band was on the promenade deck playing the "Star- 
Spangled Banner " and the " Watch on the Rhine." Hundreds 
of flags were hoisted aloft and the ship put in full dress. The pier 
at which the Hamburg lay was decorated with bunting and flags 
and the gangway to the first cabin was draped with American flags. 




TIIE FORTS IN NEW YORK HARBOR THUNDERED FORTH THE EX- 
PRESIDENTIAL SALUTE AS COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S SHIP 
PASSED OUT TO SEA. 

A notable feature of the reception was the tribute paid by the 
Italian-American Chamber of Commerce. This body presented a 
bronze tablet bearing on one side a portrait of Colonel Roosevelt 
and on the other the scene of the Sicilian earthquake and a repre- 
sentation of the goddess of peace placing a wreath on Roosevelt's 
head. The tablet was inscribed: " To Theodore Roosevelt: To you 
and the United States, a tribute of thanksgiving from Italo- Ameri- 
cans for generous help to their stricken brethren of Calabria and 
Sicily." 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *79 

Several delegations from Italian societies were present, bring- 
ing a band, a floral offering and a large banner, which was erected 
on the pier. It bore the inscription: " Italo- Americans, let us shout, 
' Long live President Roosevelt and the United States.' A tribute 
of thanksgiving on behalf of our brethren of Sicily and Calabria. 
Let us solemnly condemn any crime staining Italy's name. Let us 
here pledge our loyalty to American institutions. Long live 
America." 

COLONEL ROOSEVELT SWEPT OFF HIS FEET. 

It was when Colonel Roosevelt appeared on the after-gangplank 
to accept the tablet that the crowds swept him off his feet. As he 
came down the gangplank the cheering redoubled, and a party of 
college boys from Stevens Institute, in Hoboken, let loose their yell. 
On the way across the pier the lines of police escorting Colonel 
Roosevelt were broken through and the ex-President was swept 
toward the tablet by the crush. The crowd closed in solidly behind 
him, and while the police were endeavoring to fight off the on-rush, 
Colonel Roosevelt asked the speakers to cut the presentation cere- 
mony short. 

Colonel Roosevelt in reply said: " I appreciate this very much. 
I want to thank you all. I cannot tell you how deeply touched I am." 

Colonel Roosevelt gave directions that the tablet be sent to 
Mrs. Roosevelt and turned back toward the ship. The police did 
their best to clear a way for him, but the crowd became demon- 
strative. Two policemen were knocked off their feet, but were not 
injured. As he neared the gangplank Colonel Roosevelt's hat flew 
off and the vacuum bottle which had been presented to him was 
knocked from his hand. He bowed his thanks when the articles 
were returned to him and smilingly called " I am all right." 

Everywhere he moved outside his apartments Colonel Roose- 
velt could not escape the leave takers. More than once he was 
nearly jostled off his feet, and on one occasion was saved by a police- 
man from a fall at the edge of a short flight of steps. 

The story of the first leg of the voyage, to Naples, is well told 
in the language of William Bayard Hale, who sailed on the 



80* FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

Hamburg from Gibraltar to Naples. Mr. Hale says : " Now that 
Colonel Roosevelt is safely out of Europe, it is possible to speak of 
a feature of his journey concerning which it was advisable only 
to hint while the voyage was in progress. It is quite true that 
there was no little uneasiness among those in command of the 
arrangements respecting the personal safety of their distinguished 
charge. 

" Whether or not the investigations conducted by Lieutenant 
Petrosino in Sicily and his assassination there had determined the 
abandonment of the plan according to which Colonel Roosevelt was 
to spend ten days in Italy, there is no known ground, at all events, 
for asserting, but it is the case that immediately after the murder of 
the New York police officer it was decided that Colonel Roosevelt 
would sail for Naples, not on the Konig Albrecht, departing March 
1 1 and arriving at Naples on the 25th, ten days before the sailing of 
the Admiral, but on the Hamburg, ten days later, due to arrive the 
day before the sailing of the Admiral. 

STEAMER DELIBERATELY HELD BACK. 

" It is also true that the Hamburg did not make her schedule 
time, and that she was deliberately held back, arriving at Naples 
after noon of the 5th. The Admiral had been docked alongside 
the berth prepared for the Hamburg, and every arrangement had 
been made to transfer the expedition, its complete personnel, luggage 
and stores, directly to the ship for Mombasa. 

" Over morning coffee on the 5th Colonel Roosevelt was gleeful 
over the discomfiture of Mr. Griscom, the Ambassador at Rome 
(of whom really the ex-President is particularly fond), who had 
persisted in plans for a landing at Naples, and who had started out 
to meet the Hamburg on the United States gunboat Scorpion, with 
the idea of taking the Colonel off. Colonel Roosevelt had, in his 
own phrase, ' wig-wagged ' back — in reality he had marconigraphed 
— the Scorpion that it might go back to port ; he wasn't going to 
leave the Hamburg till he went aboard the Admiral. 

" There is no danger of any one fancying that Colonel Roose- 
velt was afraid. He is afraid of nothing. It is quite true, how- 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *81 

ever, that he is not unaware that the life of a public man is an 
inviting object of attack to certain types of the criminal and the 
insane. He spoke of this fact quite openly and naturally on this 
trip. 

' The grossly exaggerated stories which filled Europe after the 
Hamburg left the Azores had just this much basis in fact, that after 
leaving New York an insane steerage passenger did aproach Colonel 
Roosevelt on board muttering incoherently something about his 
children. 

DARED DEATH IN STEERAGE. 

" Shortly after this unfortunate incident Colonel Roosevelt 
proposed to the Captain and the Royal Italian Commissioner that he 
should visit the steerage. The officers were much alarmed at the 
suggestion, not apprehending that it was Colonel Roosevelt's idea 
thus to give the lie to the story that there was any enmity toward 
him on board or that there was any fear of the Italian emigrants 
either on his part or on that of the ship's officers. ' But there might 
be a bad man there,' exclaimed the Captain. ' As if,' said Colonel 
Roosevelt, in telling me of the incident, 'as if there might not be a 
" ' bad man' " anywhere!' 

" He then spoke, as if he had given the matter some thought, 
of the best means of repelling an assault, observing, among other 
things, that there was no defense against a swift shot or blow in the 
back, and concluding by exclaiming that in case of a tussle he 
might prove to be a 'bad man' himself; though not looking for 
trouble, he was acquainted with trouble, ready for trouble, and 
prepared to give trouble a welcome; he was prepared to eat up 
anything that didn't bite him first. 

" After having determined to transfer directly to the Admiral 
at Naples, Colonel Roosevelt debated the idea of making a landing 
at Messina. He was all against it, except on the ground of a 
single consideration, namely, that to steam past the scene of one of 
the world's greatest catastrophies, still palpitating with its anguish, 
might seem like a display of indifference to human sorrow. It was 
this reflection that determined him to marconigraph to Mr. Griscom, 

6— R. Ex. 



82* FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

consenting to land if, in the Ambassador's judgment, it was advis- 
able to do so. 

" Colonel Roosevelt did not then know that the King of Italy 
was to be at Messina. The stop in Sicily was, however, deliberately 
arranged by Colonel Roosevelt. The landing at Naples was against 
his wish. The Ambassador, when I congratulated him on having 
the last laugh over the Naples plans, replied that it had not been a 
question of what Mr. Griscom wanted, but what the police arrange- 
ment made necessary — an oracular remark which he did not go on 
to explain. 

" It was evident at the pier that the police precautions were 
very great ; a cordon of guards kept the waiting thousands several 
hundred yards from the dock, and a regiment of gendarmes stood 
at the plank when it was lowered to prevent any attempt to go 
aboard. The Hotel Excelsior was also surrounded by guards while 
the ex-President was within it. 

DISLIKED TO APPEAR AS A PUBLIC OFFICIAL. 

" It was precisely to avoid being the object of such solicitude 
that Colonel Roosevelt wished not to land in Europe at that time. 
He dislikes excessively to appear as anything but a private person. 
He is aware that the position he has held has rendered him a public 
figure, and he is delighted to be received as a distinguished Ameri- 
can. But as to anything in the nature of public honors — that he 
will not accept. 

" Conversing on this subject on shipboard with Colonel Roose- 
velt, I asked him if he did not apprehend there would be difficulty in 
drawing the line between what would naturally be offered a dis- 
tinguished private American and what would amount to official 
honors. 

' None in the least,' he replied. It is only necessary that the 
point be thoroughly understood from the start. It was with this 
intention that Colonel Roosevelt was particularly emphatic in his 
telegram to Sir Frederick Eorestier Wright, Governor of Gibraltar, 
declining anything that could be construed as official honors. 

" I mentioned the trip around the world taken by ex-President 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 



*83 



Grant as the only precedent for Colonel Roosevelt. Grant traveled 
with a considerable retinue, and was received everywhere with 
honors. ' Yes,' said Colonel Roosevelt, ' and our people seemed 
to have been pleased at it, taking the honors given the ex-President 
as a compliment to themselves.' But there will be on this trip no 
repetition of the formalities participated in by Gen. Grant. 




A MOOR ON TEE STREETS OF GIBRALTAR. 

" The Governor of Gibraltar was" a little puzzled over the 
proper course to pursue, being a typical Englishman, very much at 
sea without a precedent to guide him, and doubtless might have 
been rather nicer to Colonel Roosevelt without displeasing. 

" An hour after the visitors from the Hamburg had landed 
there appeared in shop windows in the town photographs repre- 



84* FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

senting the disembarkation of Colonel Roosevelt with a battalion 
of troops drawn up to receive him. It is possible for a clever 
photographer to do anything with a camera. As a matter of fact, 
I myself was the only person on the dock when Colonel Roosevelt 
landed at Gibraltar. 

" The Consul and Vice Consul, the Consul at Malaga and an 
aidecamp on the Governor's staff had gone on board, and there 
were perhaps a score of people at the public landing, but the picture, 
like many of the imaginative particulars which adorned the stories 
which European newspapers printed of the trip, was a pure 
' fake.' 

" Gibraltar, if the truth be told, took not the least interest in 
the visit of the Roosevelt party; the presence of the Princess Royal, 
who was to distribute prizes at an Arts and Crafts show, that 
afternoon, was all the glory it could get away with for one day. At 
Naples the interest, both official and general, was very great indeed. 

THE MAGNIFICENT MEDITERRANEAN. 

" The afternoon after leaving Gibraltar was the most lovely 
imaginable, and was followed by an equally wonderful night. 
Colonel Roosevelt was a-weary of ship life, but his spirits rose to the 
highest when the panorama of Mediterranean splendors unfolded 
itself as the ship made her way through these fabled waters past 
Spain's purple headlands, rising presently into romping and jubilant 
slopes and soon into the glittering snow peaks of the Sierra Nevada. 

" Back of them lay the scenes of the long struggle of the Moors 
and Christians, one of the most picturesque of history, and Colonel 
Roosevelt was full of it — of the romance and heroism and colorful 
dramatic nature of it, as well as of the fascinating human questions 
that attend the envisagement and contest of two contrasted religions 
and civilizations such as that of Saracen and Christian, Moor and 
Spaniard. 

" He had something to say, too, of the present condition of the 
land filled with glorious monuments of a golden age. 

" But chiefly his mind went back further to the earliest days 
when adventurous man put out past these shores through Hercules' 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *85 

Pillars to conquests or strange and terrible death amidst the mys- 
teries of the unknown Western Ocean. 

" I knew Colonel Roosevelt possessed a lively historic imagina- 
tion, but I feel moved to record that I can imagine no one more 
eloquently possessed by the spirit of the remote past than he was 
as we sailed these seas. He seemed to see, as repeatedly he said he 
did see, the fleets of thronging generations passing before his eyes, 
and he gazed over the rail and pointed at them, from the tiny boat 
of the first adventurer who cried : 

Push off, and, sitting well in order, smite 
The sounding- furrow ; for my purpose holds 
To sail beyond the sunset and the baths 
Of all the western stars, until I die, 

down to the magnificent modern armadas whose prows had cut this 
blue — the latest and most splendid of all by his own orders. I had 
to remind him of that. 

" There is a story for you — a little history sidelight, a ' human 
interest' anecdote, complete in itself: You are walking the deck 
of a steamer passing through waters that have been the theatre of 
stirring and romantic events ever since history began. 

" A man of wonderfully vivid imagination is talking to you of 
those events, looking out and seeing them all over freshly himself 
and bringing them before your eyes till you, too, see ghostly fleets 
passing, hear the accents of Hellenic adventures and, crowding into 
ten minutes the sea romances of twenty centuries, witness at last 
the processions of the maritime glory of modern times. 

" And after a little, you bethink you that within a few months 
a fleet has been here at the sight of which Jason would have swooned, 
and Villaneuve stared, and Nelson been confounded, and you say 
to the man on the deck with you : 

But the greatest sight these mountains ever looked down 
upon was the fleet that has just sailed around the world. It was 
you who sent it, you know.' And the man who has been making all 
that history live again, stops in his walk, and looks out again over 
the rail, while it all comes over him again with a suddenly new and 




"the panorama of the mediterranean unfolded its splendors. 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *87 

more intimate interest, and turns to you again and says : ' By George, 
it was, wasn't it?' 

" On the subject of civilizations, Colonel Roosevelt, who has an 
astonishing fund of information regarding India and an acute 
realization of the problems that confront the British Government 
there, one day on board turned from a discussion of that racial crisis 
to deliver a monologue on the subject of the position of the negroes, 
or more particularly of the mulatto, and the near-white colored man 
and woman, in the United States, which for its appreciation of the 
tragedy that existence may become would be hard to match in any 
literature with which I am familiar. 

GROWING GENTLER OF HEART. 

" Colonel Roosevelt is growing a little older and he is becoming 
a great deal gentler of heart. I am not sure but Ferrero would 
adjudge him a decadent, if he could have heard him talk of the 
pitiable lot of educated colored young men or girls, and their attempt 
to ' cross the line,' or have heard him quote poetry under the influ- 
ence of the sunset and the moonlight, or have watched his affection 
for half a dozen kiddies on board. 

" One of these was a little shaver whose parents were Germans 
living in America, but who himself could speak no German. ' Rather 
too bad/ I remarked. 4 Not a bit of it. It is just as it should be,' 
the ex-President rejoined instantly. 

" ' We want this lad to grow up an American, through and 
through. Let his children learn German, and be proud of their 
German grandparents, but let every thought and every word and 
instinct of this first generation in America be American.' 

" Colonel Roosevelt remarked that he had to translate German 
to Mr. Loeb, his private secretary, though Mr. Loeb's parents came 
from Germany not knowing a word of English. 

" Here, as well as in any other place, may be set down the story 
of Mr. Newberry's pants. Coming down through Spain from 
Seville, say, to Algeciras, is tedious work. You are quite alone in 
your compartment — if you are so lucky as to find a first-class car- 
riage on the train. From early morning till late at night, you look 



88* FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

out of the windows at wonderful scenery, it is true, and you buy 
oranges of pretty damsels at the stations, and eggs, which you find 
uncooked, but on which you manage to subsist after performing a 
primitive experiment in physics. 

" In the afternoon you begin to buy Spanish papers and puzzle 
over the language — very sonorous on the tongue, but a little trouble- 
some on the printed page. On the first page of a Madrid journal of 
the preceding week, however, there stood out one phrase which 
caught the eye of the lonely traveler as a beacon of hope catches the 
eye of the despairing mariner. There it stood, in the middle of the 
page of that stately Castillian: No Plush Pants for Ml. 

" I may have missed the loveliest bit of scenery in the wild 
Rondo Mountains, but I mastered the article that surrounded that 
homely English. It was to the effect that an American politician 
had won immortal fame in his own land by declining an appointment 
to an Ambassadorship in the not over-elegant but forcible exclama- 
tion given. 

" The article further stated that the gentleman's phrase had so 
pleased the democratic enthusiasm of the people of his State, which 
was Michigan, that he would probably be elected Senator. 

ANXIOUS FOR THE LATEST NEWS. 

" Colonel Roosevelt says he has left the Presidency behind him ; 
that all that is as if it had never been; but I noticed that he was 
eager for the latest news. So, after retailing the circumstances of 
the Paris postal strike and the English naval crisis and the Balkan 
imbroglio, I told Colonel Roosevelt of the Michigan man's exploit. 

No one ever told Colonel Roosevelt anything and failed to find 
that he knew more about it than the narrator himself. 

' That must be Newberry,' said the ex-President. ' The 
remark is a paraphrase of something I said about him once. He 
was mentioned to me for a diplomatic appointment, and I remarked 
that he was one of the finest fellows in the world, but I didn't believe 
Newberry wanted any plush pants.' 

" Colonel Roosevelt is the greatest phrase-coiner in American 
history. Colonel Roosevelt has become a great story teller. He 



FROM SAGAMORE HILL TO THE WILDS OF AFRICA. *89 

has acquired the art of taking refuge in an anecdote — an art the 
father of which was Abraham Lincoln. 

' The Hamburg had on board, to the joy of all who knew him, 
General Huidekoper of Philadelphia, who knew Lincoln intimately, 
and who tells many stories of the great war President's wit. When 
Huidekoper was first presented to President Lincoln, he was asked 
whether his name indicated a dutch origin. 

• Yes,' said the young officer, ' our family came from Amster- 
dam.' ■ Well, Colonel,' said the President, ' then perhaps you can 
tell me what is the difference between an Amsterdam Dutchman and 
any otherdam Dutchman.' 

" Colonel Roosevelt delighted in these stories of Lincoln, who 
grows more and more his ideal, and did his best to match the stories 
which the gallant General repeated. 

' Though the Mediterranean voyage soon became a boisterous 
one, against head seas and through a two-days' gale, the ex-Presi- 
dent, though he confessed to a weariness of confinement in the ship, 
never for a moment lost the remarkable thoughtfulness and cor- 
diality toward his fellow-passengers. 

" One of the most pleasant incidents of the trip was his seeking 
out of the mother of Mrs. Cleveland, who came aboard at Gibraltar; 
it delighted him to be able to pay his respects to the relative of his 
illustrious Democratic predecessor. 

" But he was no less courteous to every man, woman, and child 
on the ship, carefully giving a personal goodbye to every one who 
had traveled with him on a voyage distinguished throughout by 
mutual consideration, accord and good feeling." 




CHAPTER V. 

On Rock-Crowned Gibraltar — Naples Wild Over Roosevelt — 
Reception by Royalty — In Shadow oe Vesuvius — Precau- 
tions by the Police — Greetings by Wireless — Oee eor 
Sicily- Ttiunderous Salutes. 

UT five stops on the way to Mombasa were 

DA w : \ of more than ordinary interest. Additional 

J ^j^wi; ^ zest was l ent to these landings on foreign 
ijjflijf soil by the strenuous efforts of the officials 
\r , ." h "% there to do honor to the great American 
whose fame was world-wide. 

Gibraltar was reached on the second day of April, 
after stops at Horta, on the Island of Fayat, and at Ponto del Grada, 
on Sao Miguel, in the Azores. 

Xo more unassuming passenger than Colonel Roosevelt ever 
sailed the seas. So subdued of demeanor was he, indeed, that it 
was difficult to identify him with his former torrential personality. 
The first three days of the voyage Colonel Roosevelt remained 
largely in the cabins and found that he was not altogether immune 
from seasickness. The unpleasant weather in crossing the Gulf 
Stream did not prevent him from taking his constitutional, morning 
and evening, and making his appearance at dinner. 

It was while on one of these walks that Colonel Roosevelt got 
his first glimpse of the giant of the deep, the whale, while off in the 
distance lay two vessels, hove to, while the sailors tried to capture it. 
Notwithstanding his insistence that he is now merely a private 
citizen, the Royal Italian Emigration Commissioner insisted on giv- 
ing up his seat at the captain's right; but, notwithstanding the usual 
number of amateur photographers and autograph hunters, with all 

whose requests Colonel Roosevelt complied, the passengers as a 
90* 




m 



9# : - INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. 

whole recognized his evident desire to be treated merely as a fellow- 
traveler. 

The popularity of this new role was attested by the animated 
groups which gathered each evening on deck and in the drawing 
room, and of which he was the centre. 

On Saturday evening Colonel Roosevelt made his first appear- 
ance of the trip in evening clothes. The occasion was a dance. The 
promenade deck was converted into a ballroom, through which a 
score of couples, among them Kermit, who danced until midnight, 
found more or less difficulty in keeping their feet in the choppy sea. 

The first surprise of the voyage came when it was announced 
that the ship would touch at Horta and St. Miguel, in the Azores. 
Horta, the westernmost of the group and one which liners rarely 
touch, was sighted Tuesday morning, although it was past noon 
before the Hamburg's anchors rumbled down off the breakwater 
at Fayal. 

THE PICTURESQUE AZORES, 

The picturesque horseshoe-shaped harbor, with its fringe of 
pink, blue and yellow houses in the background and its luxuriant 
gardens, had a particular interest for the Colonel, as it was here that 
during the War of 1812 the American privateer, General Arm- 
strong, took refuge from five British warships. After beating off 
repeated attacks of the British until every American was dead or 
wounded, Captain Reed pointed his Long Tom gun down the hatch- 
way and sent the ship to the bottom with colors flying and with the 
crew aboard. 

The Portuguese quarantine officer at Fayal, on being informed, 
to his unbounded amazement, that the ex-President was aboard, 
promptly expressed a desire to take him ashore. A gig was promptly 
offered, which was accepted with equal promptness, despite the 
heavy sea. 

The Fayalez spend the middle of the day at siesta. The ex- 
President had been ashore an hour before the town woke up to the 
identity of its distinguished guest. Escorted by the American con- 
sular agent and port doctor, Colonel Roosevelt was driven in a 



INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. *93 

typical Fayalez vehicle for a few miles into the surrounding country, 
where he obtained glimpses of the primitive agricultural methods 
still pursued in these out-of-the-way islands. 

By the time he returned from his drive a crowd of several 
hundred natives, English and Germans, attached to the cable sta- 
tions, had assembled and cheered vociferously. Colonel Roosevelt 
held an informal reception on the quay and received a huge bouquet 
of camelias from a lady of the English colony. 

A somewhat unpleasant incident occurred as he was ascending 
the steps to the promenade deck. An Italian steerage passenger, 
who was being deported, rushed toward him talking unintelligibly. 
The man was immediately placed in irons and examined. The 
surgeon pronounced him violently insane. 

LANDED IN A ROUGH SEA. 

Ponta del Gada was reached at daybreak on Wednesday, but 
the steamship Finland was occupying the inner berth, and it was 
necessary for the Hamburg to anchor outside the breakwater. A 
terrific sea was running, and the passengers were forbidden to land. 

Word had been cabled from Horta of his coming, and prepara- 
tions had been made to give him an official reception and a guard of 
honor. The sea became so violent that all hope of his going ashore 
was abandoned, and the troops were withdrawn. Not ten minutes 
later, however, a boat swung around the end of the breakwater and 
Colonel Roosevelt, in a military overcoat, with the stripes of a 
colonel on the sleeves and a Rough Rider hat, stepped ashore. 

Traversing the cobble-paved Marina, and crossing the quaint 
Cathedral square, he entered the consulate and showed himself for 
a moment on the balcony, bowing to the cheering crowd below. 

In returning, the greatest difficulty was experienced in getting 
alongside. At a critical and somewhat inopportune moment, the 
ship's band burst forth with "The Star-Spangled Banner." Colonel 
Roosevelt, despite the perilous swaying of the boat, rose to his feet 
and stood bareheaded until the music ceased. 

With the boat alongside the gangway, the Colonel started to 
jump, but, hampered by the folds of his overcoat, his foot slipped 



94 * INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. 

and he went into the water to his knees. Fourth Officer Hessler 
and the quartermaster, however, caught him under the arms and 
lifted him to safety. Colonel Roosevelt, dripping with water, made 
light of the experience. 

On Wednesday afternoon the passengers had an opportunity 
to see Colonel Roosevelt in a novel role. He acted as master of 




GIBRALTAR. 



ceremonies, judges, starter and official announcer of the games. 
That he enjoyed himself hugely there is no doubt, for from the 
beginning of the program to the end he was convulsed with laughter. 
At the captain's dinner the night before the arrival at Gibraltar, 
a resolution of appreciation, signed by all the passengers, was pre- 
sented to Colonel Roosevelt in a speech by E. Alexander Powell, 
the correspondent of the New York Times on board, and late of the 



INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. *95 

consular service. Colonel Roosevelt was taken by surprise. He 
managed, however, to make the following reply: 

" I will follow the advice given by a New Bedford whaling 
captain to the first mate. ' All I want from you is silence, and 
darned little of that.' You have all been very considerate. I should 
think having a former President aboard would be a big nuisance." 
The stewards, dressed in Rough Rider uniforms, carried ices in a 
procession. 

Just as Gibraltar loomed in view on the left, to the right, on 
the African shore of the straits, could be seen the minarets of the 
Moroccan mosques at Tangier. 

A correspondent on board, at Colonel Roosevelt's request, tele- 
graphed to the Governor of Gibraltar requesting that no official 
reception be given ; as he wished to be treated as a private citizen. 
The real reason was that he had no suitable clothes with him. All 
the voyage he clung to the gray suit and the same pink shirt. 

CHANGED HIS MIND. 

Someone asked Colonel Roosevelt if he would accept the invi- 
tation of the Duchess of Aosta. " No," he replied, " because her 
ideas of me are gained from the newspapers and caricatures, and 
she would doubtless expect me to shoot out the lights of the palace 
and kill the butler, and would be disappointed if I didn't." He 
changed his mind later, however. 

Colonel Roosevelt announced that he would accept invitations 
from royalty on his return from Africa, and would make his 
addresses in English. He denied the report that he would raise a 
beard in Africa, and declared he would use American weapons alto- 
gether, if possible. 

At Horta and Ponta del Gada, Messrs. Mearns, Heller and 
Loring, the naturalists of the expedition, landed, dressed in full 
khaki, and armed with guns. The peacable inhabitants thought it 
was an armed invasion party. They shot three small birds within 
the precincts of the Portuguese fort at Fayal, the first specimens 
of the expedition. 

Colonel Roosevelt, silk-hatted, visited the Governor on the 



i 




96* 



BRASS RAZAAR AT TANGIER, MOROCCO. 



INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. *97 

arrival of the ship at Gibraltar, and later, surrounded by a guard 
of honor, with the Governor and his staff, was driven through the 
town to Europa Point and viewed the fortifications. He re-em- 
barked on the Government's barge, accompanied by all the officials. 

Just as the ship was sailing from Ponta Delgada, on the Island 
3f San Miguel, in the Azores, the following message of welcome 
from Cardinal Satolli, former Papal Delegate to the United States, 
and Ernest Nathan, the Mayor of Rome, were received by Colonel 
Roosevelt on board the steamship Hamburg. Cardinal Satolli said : 

" Recalling the cordial reception given me at the White House, 
[ send you my cordial greetings and congratulations on your glorious 
administration of the Presidency of the United States, my wishes 
that you may have a happy journey and my hope of meeting you 
personally in Rome before you return to America." 

Signor Nathan's greetings were as follows : ' To Theodore 
Roosevelt, the worthy successor of Washington and Lincoln and 
the champion of truth and fearless integrity, Rome, the soul of 
united Italy, sends her friendliest welcome and heralds his coming 
across the ocean." 

GREETINGS FROM HIS COUNTRYMEN IN EUROPE. 

Lloyd C. Griscom, the American Ambassador to Italy, sent a 
message of greeting by wireless telegraph to Theodore Roosevelt 
on board the steamer Hamburg, just before it reached Gibraltar. 
The message was sent from Italy to the Italian steamer Duca Deglia 
Abruzzi, which left Genoa March 24. This vessel was in the 
Atlantic and got into wireless communication with the Hamburg. 
The communication is as follows: 

' To Theodore Roosevelt, on board the steamship Hamburg, 
Atlantic Ocean. Accept this first greeting from your countrymen 
in Europe. I deeply regret that the essentially private nature of 
your journey makes you decline all honors and prompts you to avoid 
the public enthusiasm which would have such an admirable effect 
in emphasizing the good relations between Italy and the United 
States. 

" I profit by the inventive genius of a great Italian to send you 

7— R. Ex. 



95r INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. 

while you are at sea a welcome message from Italy. With every 
good wish, from your devoted friend, Lloyd C. Griscom." 

Former President Roosevelt spent several hours in Naples on 
April 5, and in that time received many evidences of his personal 
popularity with the Italian people and of the admiration which diey 
have for his services to his country. 

The steamship Hamburg was greeted on her way to the 
anchorage with the blowing of whistles, the fluttering of many flags 
and the playing of bands. 

Italian warships in the harbor, steamships of many nationali- 
ties, private yachts and craft of all kind, dressed in bunting and 
signal flags from stem to stern, added to the picturesqueness of the 
scene, which Colonel Roosevelt characterized as magnificent. 

ASTONISHED AT THE ENTHUSIASM SHOWN HIM. 

Great crowds, too, waited for his appearance on the streets, 
and when he rode along in an automobile he was greeted with enthu- 
siasm that astonished him. He met various official delegations at 
the Hotel Excelsior, scores of prominent Americans and the repre- 
sentatives of other countries, and to them all he expressed his warm- 
est thanks for the welcome which he had received. 

The Admiral, which was to convey Colonel Roosevelt to Mom- 
basa was ready to sail at midnight. The ex-President's quarters 
aboard were filled with flowers, which had come from admiring- 
friends. Chief among these were bunches of red, white and black 
carnations from the German Emperor and a grea+ cluster of frag- 
rant blossoms from the Empress. 

Emperor William, indeed, showed particular interest m the 
former President. The German Consul General, in the name of the 
Emperor, carried to Colonel Roosevelt the warmest greetings and a 
letter in which the Emperor expressed the hope that he would see 
Colonel Roosevelt in Berlin on his return. In reply to this Colonel 
Roosevelt told the Consul General to inform the Emperor that he 
would certainly go to the German capital and would tell his Majesty 
" how the white man can live and fight in Africa." 



INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. *99 

The Emperor closed his letter with " Weidmannsheil," (" Hail 
to the successful huntsman "). Colonel Roosevelt was particularly 
touched by this and in expressing his thanks f~r the gracious 
thought, he said: 

" In a year from now you will be in a position to see whether 
I deserve such a wish." 

A letter was received by Colonel Roosevelt that afternoon from 
a prominent American prelate who lately had been in Rome. The 
writer said he had gained the impression that the Vatican would 
have great pleasure in receiving Colonel Roosevelt, because of the 
admiration and high esteem in which he was held there. 

Later Colonel Roosevelt told the American Ambassador that 
he should assuredly go to the Vatican to see the Pope if he visited 
Rome. 

PERSONALLY SUPERINTENDED HIS BAGGAGE. 

Three hours elapsed between the arrival of the Hamburg and 
the landing of the ex-President, as Colonel Roosevelt wished to 
superintend personally the handling of the baggage, of which he 
had a large quantity. Meanwhile he was the object of a continual 
ovation from emigrants who cheered every time they caught a 
glimpse of him, from the moment the Hamburg dropped anchor. 

As the vessel steamed into the harbor, the Italian men-of-war, 
several German ships and a large contingent of yachts and craft 
of all kind ran up their bunting which fluttered in the high wind. 
The sun succeeded for a moment in piercing the clouds and height- 
ened the bright colors of the streamers. As Colonel Roosevelt stood 
on the bridge and watched the scene, he remarked that it was some- 
what ear-splitting, but picturesque and magnificent. 

The great crowds ashore, which had been waiting for hours 
to see the former President, became exceedingly impatient at the 
delay, but even when the Scorpion's launch, with Colonel Roosevelt 
aboard, did come ashore they were ignorant of the fact, and the 
distinguished visitor reached the landing stage practically undis- 
covered. When he appeared in an automobile and proceeded to the 
Hotel Excelsior a great roar broke from the crowd, and he was 




100* 



INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. *101 

cheered continuously all along the route. The ovation moved Col- 
onel Roosevelt to remark: " It seems that the Italians can make as 
much noise as the Americans after all." 

At the hotel the ex-President received with the greatest cor- 
diality the Americans and foreigners who had gathered there to 
welcome him.. 

Among those at the table with the ex-President at luncheon 
were his son Kermit, Ambassador Griscom, Consul and Mrs. 
Crowninshield, Lieutenant Commander Logan, John W. Garrett, 
First Secretary of the Embassy; Winthrop Chandler, Mrs. Garrett 
and Miss Cartright. The party was a merry one, frequent out- 
bursts of laughter being heard as Colonel Roosevelt described some 
of his adventures aboard ship. He seemed to be in the best of health 
and spirits, and expressed himself as looking forward impatiently 
to his arrival at Mombasa. 

WELCOME FROM ROYALTY. 

After luncheon Colonel Roosevelt proceeded with Ambassador 
Griscom to visit the Duke and Duchess of Aosta at their palace, 
which is the most magnificent in the Neapolitan provinces. On the 
way to the palace Colonel Roosevelt confessed that this visit was 
intensely interesting to him, not only because of his desire to meet 
the Duke and Duchess personally, but because of the official nature 
of the meeting, the Duke representing King Victor Emmanuel. 

Colonel Roosevelt was welcomed warmly, the Duke receiving 
him in private, the two conversing at great length concerning affairs 
in the United States, the voyage just ended, the ex-President's pros- 
pective hunting trip and the experiences of the Duke of the Abruzzi. 
The Duke expressed the hope that Colonel Roosevelt would meet 
the Count of Turin, who was also on a shooting expedition in 
Africa. 

Colonel Roosevelt was presented later to the Duchess and they 
conversed together for twenty minutes, about hunting in Africa, 
where the Duchess had spent some time. She gave Colonel Roose- 
velt many hints, which he laughingly promised to carry out. 

The room in which the meeting took place was resplendent with 



102* INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. 

trophies of the Duchess' African expedition, being hung with ele- 
phant tusks, deer antlers and the skins of tigers and lions. She 
would not say that these had fallen before her gun. 

The good impression was mutual, as, while Colonel Roosevelt 
was charmed with the Dutchess, the latter said after his departure 
that the ex-President was the most interesting American she had 
ever met — she might almost say, the most interesting man. 

The party later proceeded to the museum, where the Colonel 
said he would have liked to spend hours. But the time was short, 
and they went direct to the Pompeiian rooms. The bronzes particu- 
larly attracted him, and he said : 

" I shall now get an idea of what I want to see when I return. 
Such a museum deserves days of study. It has been entirely trans- 
formed since I was here before." 

HIS WEDDING TRIP RECALLED. 

In accordance with Colonel Roosevelt's desire the party made 
the trip to Posilipo, and the ex-President was recognized and 
cheered all along the way. They sat in the balcony of one of the 
characteristic Neapolitan restaurants, overhanging the sea, with 
the bay at their feet, always glorious, whether in calm or storm. 

The sunset was magnificent and brought out the colors on the 
slopes of Mount Vesuvius, Capri in the distance and the emerald 
sea. Colonel Roosevelt was enchanted, and remarked that he had 
not looked upon this scene for 22 years. It was his wedding trip 
then, and he could only wish that Mrs. Roosevelt might see it as it 
was that day. 

While his father w r as at Capodimonte Kermit Roosevelt took 
the opportunity to visit many of the points of interest. He made a 
number of purchases, mostly of old books, including a set of the 
works of Virgil. 

Colonel Roosevelt was accompanied aboard the Admiral by 
Ambassador Griscom and Lieutenant Commander Belknap, who 
went to Messina with him. 

It is estimated that fully 5000 foreigners came into the city, 
especially from Capri, Sorrento and Amain, in the hope of catching 



INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP TO MOMBASA. *103 

a glimpse of the distinguished traveler. American flags were flying 
from the consulate, all the hotels, and many private houses in honor 
of Colonel Roosevelt. 

The police took special efforts to guard Colonel Roosevelt. 
They took every precaution to prevent small boats getting too close 
to the Hamburg as she came into port, but in spite of these measures 
several managed to reach the side of the vessel and proffer their 
offerings of fruits and flowers. 




CHAPTER VI. 

King Greets Roosevelt — Former President Amid Messina's 
Ruins — Victor Compliments and Thanks America — 
Photographed Together — Deeply Moved by Disaster — 
Rebuilding Work eor Titans — Voyage Continued. 



. - s " HEN Colonel Roosevelt and Victor Emmanuel 
| met the next clay it was on the Italian bat- 
tleship Re Umber to, in Messina harbor. 
The steamship Admiral, with Colonel 
Roosevelt aboard, arrived about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, 
and was saluted by the Re Umberto, with the King on 
board, which reached there in the morning. 

Almost immediately Captain Pfister, the former Italian Mili- 
tary Attache at Washington and aide to Admiral Mirabello, was 
taken to the Admiral in a launch, and inquired for Colonel Roose- 
velt. To him he said the King sent his compliments, and would 
have great pleasure in receiving the former President. 

Colonel Roosevelt's face lighted with a pleasant smile, and, 
accompanied by his son Kermit and Ambassador Griscom, he pro- 
ceeded to the battleship. 

The King met the party at the head of the gangway, and he 
greeted the ex-President effusively. He did not wish, he said, to 
allow the opportunity to pass of making the acquaintance of so dis- 
tinguished a man. Above all, he wanted personally to thank the 
ex-President for the help extended by America at the time of the 
earthquake. ' You are now able," he added, " To understand bet- 
ter what a terrible disaster it was." 

Colonel Roosevelt thanked the sovereign for the compliment 
paid him in inviting him to come aboard the Re Umberto. He said 
that the American people did not wish thanks for what they had 
done, as they had merely tried to do their duty and knew no better 

104* 



THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. *105 

way to confront the immense need than by their work and contri- 
butions. 

The conversation turned to the hunting trip to Africa, the King- 
saying that his tastes also ran in that direction. He mentioned the 
expedition of the Count of Turin in Africa, and, as had the Duke 
of Aosta the previous day, expressed the hope that Colonel Roose- 
velt would meet the Count there. 

The King accompanied his guest ashore, where a photograph 
was made of a group consisting of the King, the ex-President, 
Kermit and Mr. Griscom. At the suggestion of the King, Colonel 
Roosevelt snapped a picture of his Majesty, Admiral Mirabello, 
Kermit and Ambassador Griscom, amid much laughter. 

Before leaving, the King saluted Colonel Roosevelt, washing 
him a happy and successful trip and much good luck in the way 
of hunting. He asked Colonel Roosevelt to promise that he would 
visit Rome on his return. 

DEEPLY MOVED BY DISASTER. 

In the American quarter Colonel Roosevelt congratulated the 
American workers on the speed with which they had constructed 
the huts. He shook hands with the men from the American navy 
who are directing the work, leaving them highly delighted at the 
meeting. 

Considerable trouble was experienced in passing through the 
city. Rain added greatly to the difficulties of the jourpty, as the 
mud was deep. In the hut where the American workers made their 
headquarters a glass of wine was offered to Colonel Roosevelt, who, 
raising the glass, said : 

" I drink to all the men, of whatever nationality, who have 
worked and are working to relieve what befell the Sicilian people." 
The people of Italy, he added, would have energy enough to rebuild 
Messina, but it w r as work for Titans. 

Colonel Roosevelt's departure to go aboard the Admiral was 
marked with scenes that moved him to emotion. Although it was 
raining heavily the people gathered in crowds. The women kissed 
their hands to him, the children threw flowers in his path and the 



106* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

men cheered wildly. It was a spontaneous greeting to one who had 
been their friend. Turning to one of the members of his party, 
Colonel Roosevelt said: 

" I am glad and proud as an American citizen that my country 
could do something to help after this immense disaster, for which 
even all the assistance in the world would be insufficient." The 
Admiral left Naples soon after midnight. 

Arising early the next morning, Colonel Roosevelt was soon 
out on deck armed with a pair of marine glasses, saying he did not 
want to miss a minute of the trip. The air was balmy and the sun- 
shine brilliant. After the buffeting they had received on the voyage 
from Gibraltar to Naples, the trip down the coast was like sailing 
on a lake. 

ANXIOUS TO MISS NOTHING. 

The whole morning was spent on deck, and Colonel Roosevelt 
had a good opportunity to learn much from those of the party who 
had been through the thrilling experience of the earthquake con- 
cerning the tragic detail of that disaster. He was particularly 
interested in the stories told by Signor Trincheri, the Prefect of 
Messina. The Prefect, who was wounded in the wreck of his own 
home, told of having his son buried for many hours under the ruins. 

About 1 1 o'clock the Admiral passed close to the Lipari Islands, 
the volcano Stromboli, which the ancients regarded as the seat of 
Aeolus, the god of the winds, standing hugely against the blue of 
the sky. From the cone of the volcano, more than 3000 feet high, 
a column of smoke rose majestically and was swept far away in 
fleecy clouds. The village of Stromboli, all white like a Moorish 
town, lay low down by the sea. 

At luncheon the ex-President had before him the vase of car- 
nations sent by the German Emperor. There was little ceremony 
over this meal, and soon all rushed on deck again, so that they 
might not lose the view at the entrance of Messina harbor. 

All that was left of the population of that once busy city gath- 
ered early near the landing place to witness the arrival of the dis- 
tinguished party. 



THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. *]07 

As the Admiral approached the shore the ex-President made 
exactly the same remark as hundreds of others who have visited 
the ruins and observed them from afar. ' There is more standing 
than I expected." 

When he saw behind those shells of what once were the walls 
of splendid palaces, he was aghast, saying that it was impossible to 
form any idea of the completeness of the disaster without ocular 
demonstration. 




COLONEL ROOSEVELT VISITS SCENE OP DESTRUCTION IN MESSINA. 

There have been many changes at Messina since the early days 
just after the earthquake. All along the sea front huts, tents and 
make-shifts of various kinds have been erected. There is a bustle 
symptomatic of the city's resuming something of its former activity. 
Very small shops are tucked away in doorways or in an isolated 
room left here and there in the general destruction. An occasional 
horse is to be seen, while a kind of open-air market is held for the 
sale and barter of the necessaries of life. Numerous craft were to 
be noticed in the harbor, from battleships to fruit scows. 

Colonel Roosevelt and his party penetrated into the interior 



108* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

of the town, now a desert waste, practically composed of a gigantic 
rubbish heap, from 20 to 30 feet in height. Great blocks of stone 
and ancient columns lay scattered among the rubbish, where dan- 
gerous walls had been pulled down. 

The line of the streets was preserved only by tracks worn by 
the civilian survivors, the soldiers and the police, extremely narrow 
and in some places difficult to negotiate. No tree or green thing 
met the eye, and there was scarcely a person to be seen, so terrible 
and vast was the desolation. It seemed impossible that any one 
should live in such a wilderness of ruins. 

Colonel Roosevelt was strangely moved by the pitiful spectacle 
of a city destroyed, and on the way back to the sea front he spoke 
most sympathetically of the sufferings of the Sicilians and of the 
mysterious influence that held them to their devastated country. 

EVERYWHERE GREETED WITH ENTHUSIASM. 

Arrived again in the populated quarters, it seemed as though 
the people were not so unhappy after all. They showed a certain 
serene contentment, and everywhere greeted Colonel Roosevelt with 
enthusiasm. The scene about the harbor front was characteristic. 
The handsome Sicilian women, with their beautiful half-naked 
children, appeared in bright colors, as though in pictures painted by 
Murillo or some other of the noted artists, while the men of the 
Arab type were just as attractive, in their own way. 

But in another sense the spectacle was most touching, for here 
was a people, suddenly overwhelmed, now struggling for existence, 
but refusing to leave the land from sheer love of home. 

The crowds followed the American party wherever it went, 
cheering frequently and shouting " Viva America ! Viva Roosevelt !" 
Colonel Roosevelt was visibly touched and lifted his hat repeatedly, 
stopping sometimes to shake hands with the children. He left an 
impression on the people, which can never be forgotten, of a strong 
man whose deepest sympathies have gone out to them. 

The people were still acclaiming the ex-President as he climbed 
aboard the steamship, shouting wishes for a happy journey. As 
the Admiral sailed slowly out of the port, it was seen that King 




*109 



110* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

Victor Emmanuel was standing on the bridge of the Re Umberto. 
The battleship saluted the departing guest, and the king waved his 
hand, while Colonel Roosevelt replied with a frantic waving of 
his hat. 

Although somewhat worn from his fatiguing excursion ashore, 
Colonel Roosevelt said that he was exceedingly happy at his meet- 
ing with the King. What he had seen in Messina, he continued, 
would leave a lasting impression. After a short rest he donned 
evening dress and went to dinner, still having before him the flowers 
sent by Emperor William. 

Colonel Roosevelt referred on the trip to a letter he had written 
to Sir Harry H. Johnston, the British traveler and scientist, who 
has made a study of the negro and the problems of that race. Col- 
onel Roosevelt had invited Sir Harry to go to Haiti so that he 
might see the differences between the negro in America and the 
negro in Africa. The United States at that time had a negro as its 
representative at Haiti. 

OFTEN RISKED ASSASSINATION. 

The letter, he said, was intended to be private, but instead it 
was published. Colonel Roosevelt observed that this had created 
some embarrassment for him, but he added that he preferred to 
fight in the open instead of trying to avoid tackling a vital question. 

" For example," he said, k ' it is well known that I have often 
risked being assassinated, but not even to escape this would I resign 
myself to being shut up in an iron cage, because if I were so con- 
fined I would not be able to take any action." 

Prior to leaving Messina the ex-President sent telegrams to 
the Mayor of Naples and the Mayor of Rome. To the former, 
after thanking him for the courtesy which he had received in that 
city, he said: " At Messina I realize more keenly than before the 
dreadful nature of the disaster, which all the civilized world has 
mourned." 

To Mayor Nathan, of Rome, he sent the following message: 
" Accept my hearty thanks for your very kind greetings. Through 
you I thank the people of Rome. I wish again to express my pro- 




AN ARABIAN WOMAN WATCHING THE ROOSEVELT SHIP AT ADEN. 

*m 



112* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

found sorrow and the sympathy of the American people for their 
Italian brothers in the overwhelming disaster which befell them." 

Malta was sighted, far off to the left, soon after leaving 
Messina. 

The Admiral, with Theodore Roosevelt and the members of 
his party on board, arrived at Port Said, at the entrance to the 
Suez Canal, on April 9. Excellent weather prevailed during the 
three days' voyage from Messina, and the trip was uneventful. 

Colonel Roosevelt gave out for publication the following state- 
ment regarding the situation at Messina : " There is no sadder sight 
than the dreadful desolation of Messina, and words cannot describe 
it. It seems that there are still 40,000 bodies buried in the ruins. 

GREAT PRAISE FOR AMERICAN OFFICIALS. 

" The American people do not realize the labors of relief per- 
formed by Lloyd Griscom, the American Ambassador ; Commander 
Belknap, the naval attache at Rome, and the men of the gunboat 
Scorpion, under Lieutenants Buchanan and Wilcox, as well as by 
Winthrop Chanler and the other members of the Volunteer Com- 
mittee. They have performed labors which should be a source of 
legitimate pride to every good American, and our gratitude should 
be heartfelt for the honor they have reflected on our country. 

" I was especially struck by the efficiency, good humor and all- 
around power shown by the enlisted men." 

The Admiral passed out of the canal the night of April 10, 
made a brief stop at Suez, then proceeded down the Red Sea. The 
Admiral made stops at Aden and Mogadiscio, on the east coast of 
Italian Somaliland. 

During the trip through the canal the Admiral slowed up to 
permit a party to land at Ismailia, which is about half-way distant 
between the Red and Mediterranean Seas. The landing party con- 
sisted of Kermit Roosevelt, Major Mearns, Edmund Heller, zoolo- 
gist, and J. Aklen Loring. Their intention was to make a collection 
of bird specimens and proceed to Suez by train. 

During the voyage through the canal the Admiral passed the 
steamship City of Paris, from Kurrachee, crowded with British 



114* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

passengers. These massed on the steamship's decks and cheered 
the ex-President enthusiastically. A large Teddy Bear occupied a 
prominent place on the bridge deck. Colonel Roosevelt answered 
the cheers by waving his hat ardently. He seemed to enjoy the 
experience very much. 

The voyage down the Red Sea was rather dull, but still lit up 
by vistas of palm-decorated estuaries on the Egyptian shore. Alto- 
gether the trip was a delightful one, but it was with a cry of joy 
that the intrepid hunter at last, in the waning afternoon of April 
21, saw the island of Mombasa, his landing place, emerge from the 
sea. 

Here every preparation had been made to receive and enter- 
tain him during the short interval between his disembarkation and 
his departure for the hunting grounds, including the engagement 
of his Somali burden bearers. 

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED. 

It is said that the Colonial Office in London issued instructions 
to the Governor of the protectorate to surround Colonel Roosevelt 
on his hunting trips with every possible precaution for his safety, 
since the mullahs of the Somalis inhabiting the desert country north 
of the protectorate were reported to be showing signs of unrest, 
and massing on tlie northern boundary of Kenya province. This 
restlessness first became evident some six months before, and there 
had been apprehension of trouble in the dry season, when travel 
over the trails is easier. 

This northern district always has been a territory to watch 
closely. When the natives do go out for trouble they generally bear 
to the westward in the direction of the settled districts and the good 
hunting grounds. There was, on this account, some local anxiety, 
particularly as a majority of the protectorate groups are at Berbera, 
in British Somaliland. 

Sir H. Hesketh-Bell, Governor and commander-in-chief of 
Uganda, left Uganda April 28 for England. Colonel Roosevelt 
and. his party were to be received in Uganda by S. C. Tomkins, one 
of the provincial commissioners. 



<i Hi i n 



! "Hi!l 






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pit:- 



.f.-v.--: , '')f->. 





116* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

F. J. Jackson, Lieutenant Governor of the protectorate, was 
already at Mombasa arranging the details of the reception to the 
Roosevelt party. 

Mr. Delamere, a game ranger ; Percival Jackson, an entomolo- 
gist, and Mr. Anderson, members of the local Natural Historical 
Society, were appointed a subcommittee to Mr. Jackson to confer 
regarding the details of Colonel Roosevelt's reception. 

Gloom had at first been spread over Mombasa by a cablegram 
from Colonel Roosevelt declining a public dinner and reception, but 
with his usual urbanity, he afterwards, as will be detailed later, 
acceded to the wishes of his hosts. 

HIS POPULARITY PRECEDES HIM TO AFRICA. 

How great was Africa's enthusiasm over the coming of the 
great American can be judged by a letter received weeks before his 
start by Dr. Andrews, of Philadelphia, from Dwight L. Elmen- 
dorf, who was at Khartoum, 1400 miles up the Nile. 

Mr. Elmendorf wrote: 

' I am 1400 miles up the Nile, 15 degrees north latitude, and 
weather averaging 90 in the shade and 120 in the sun. We passed 
through two severe sand storms that were anything but pleasant. 
Photographically the trip has been a very successful one, and has 
resulted in a number of new views and motion pictures. Aside 
from the temples, I have enjoyed Omdurman, the old capital of the 
Sudan, about three miles from here, more than any place I have 
seen on my trip, the life there being most interesting; the women 
are, with a few exceptions, hideous. The children, however, are 
beautiful. I made a picture of one dear little girl dressed in a 
string of beads. I call her my Sudanese sweetheart. At Khartoum 
about a dozen different tribes of natives may be seen. Most of 
them are very black, and while the men are fine, the women are 
terrible. 

" After many vicissitudes the town is being slowly rebuilt, and 
now numbers a population of about 25,000. Architecturally, the 
city has little to offer. 

" For a number of years Khartoum has been connected by rail- 




SCENES AMONGST THE SOMALIS FROM WHOM ROOSEVELT' S PORTERS WERE DRAWN. 

*11"7 



118* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

road with Cairo, and on the completion of the Cape-to-Cairo Rail- 
road, it is destined to become a place of great commercial importance 
for all trade passing to and from the interior. 

" It is through this gateway to civilization that our ex-President 
is expected to make his way into the world after his hunting trip 
in the interior. News of his coming has already reached here, and 
the people are all anxious to see the great hunter. 

" Everything here is military and under martial law, but hav- 
ing a letter to the Governor General, I have been treated with the 
utmost courtesy and have had no difficulty in going anywhere. I 
leave here for Cairo and will reach there in about three weeks." 

This is merely a straw showing how former President Roose- 
velt's fame has traveled. The press of the day was filled with 
many similar tokens. 

VISITED BY MANY NOTABLES. 

British East Africa and Uganda have entertained probably 
more " great " people within five years than any other portion of 
the British Empire. Royal reigning dukes, brothers and cousins 
of kings and emperors, British and Continental statesmen of high 
degree, all have received that unostentatious but genuine welcome 
which characterizes colonial peoples. 

The occasion of ex-President Roosevelt's visit was unique in 
"the fact that he was the first famous American statesman to set 
foot in East Africa. 

The people who are pioneers in what once was " Darkest 
Africa " are of a different stamp to the pioneers who made Canada 
and Australia what they are. The British East Africa colonist 
iias been drawn chiefly from the hardier of Great Britain's aristo- 
cracy and from the educated middle classes. 

All were sportsmen in the best sense of the term; all were men 
with whom the ex-President immediately would be on friendly 
terms. There was to be no crowding on the privacy of a visitor 
when once the shoot commenced, any unsportsmanlike attempt to 
spoil a sport by following close on the party's track. 

Kilindini Harbor (the place of deep waters) was to be the port 



THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. *119 

of debarkation, and Mombasa (the place of war) the place of resi- 
dence, where the distinguished visitor was to be able to do the 
" sightseeing " of which he wrote to the Boston League of Mercy. 

It was hoped that he would visit Freretown (the place of free- 
dom) where only a few years ago the decree of the late Sultan of 
Zanzibar was read, forbidding the continuance of slavery. He thus 
would be in a position to stand on the spot where, even in the time 
of his own youth, wretched slaves, raided in the fiercest manner 
by the famous Arab chief, Tippu-Tip, were put up for auction as 
goods and chattels and eagerly purchased by the old Mombasa 
Arabs, many of whom are living in ease now on their ill-gotten 
gains. 

The massive fort begun by the Arab conquerors in the seventh 
century, and finished by the Portuguese in the days of Vasco Da 
Gama, they felt would surely be visited. Every stone was laid by 
slaves under the whips of their masters, and for every stone a life 
was paid. 

HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD. 

Within the grim walls of this fort history has been written in 
blood. Nine times has the ownership of the famous edifice changed 
hands. First the Arab and then the white man, and then again the 
Arab, have fought hand to hand within its walls, until the time of 
the final massacre. This was when Yussuf, a baptized Arab, 
defeated the Portuguese governor, and put to death every white 
man, woman and child in the place. 

Colonel Roosevelt's national pride was to be stirred when he 
inspected the locomotives that were to carry him in comfort over 
the continent in two days, on a journey which took Stanley three 
months of the greatest discomfort and personal danger. These 
locomotives are the product of Philadelphia. 

Colonel Roosevelt was to find that British East Africa pro- 
vides food for the anthropologist as well as the entomologist, zoolo- 
gist and historian. Each great native tribe is bound up in its own 
civilization, its own customs, its own religions and its own physical 
and mental characteristics, and the march of Western civilization 



120* THE RUINS OF MESSINA INSPIRE SORROWFUL REFLECTIONS. 

can be clearly and peculiarly denoted by the wearing apparel, or its 
absence, of the fashionable native women. 

At the coast the women adopt picturesque costumes of fancy 
patterned cotton prints and huge silver hand-worked anklets of 
many pounds weight. 

In the highlands around Nakuru the fashions change. The 
dressed skins of wild game displace cotton manufactures and roll 
upon roll of bright iron and copper wire, bound tightly around the 
upper and nether limbs, complete the costume. Then again in some 
districts wearing apparel is exceedingly scant. 

Such were conditions when Colonel Roosevelt arrived on the 
edge of the long-looked-for hunting grounds. 



CHAPTER VII. 




Roosevelt Breaks Lion-Slaying Record — Refuses to Quit 
Hunt Till Successful — Fourth Victim a Beautiful 
Lioness — Brings Down Ferocious Wart Hog — Kermit 
Slays Fierce Cheetah — Habits and Anecdotes of Both 
Animals — Back to Camp. 

REAT was the commotion in camp the morning 
after that first successful lion hunt. The mem- 
bers of the ex-President's party had sat around 
the camp fire till the dying embers warned that 
the evening was far advanced. Then, though 
reluctant to call a halt on the flow of reminis- 
cences Colonel Roosevelt finally had cautioned 
all that the hunt was to be renewed at an early 
hour in the morning and that every member of the party would 
have ample need for all the strength that a refreshing night's sleep 
would bring. 

Accordingly, all had sought their respective tents, where, 
guarded by their trusty Somali servants, they slept. We readily 
may believe that those hours of slumber were not unbroken by 
dreams of big game yet to fall before their aim, but, nevertheless, 
all were immensely refreshed when the first rays of the rising sun 
called them from their beds. 

Breakfast over, Mr. Selous, the veteran hunter, proposed that 

the party set off to the southward, in the hope that in the more 

wooded portions of the country a giraffe or two could be bagged. 

The giraffe seldom wanders into the open country and must 

be hunted where the branches of trees furnish it food. 

" I find," objected Colonel Roosevelt, " that the record bag of 
lions by one man in British East Africa is three within as many 
days. I have equalled that record in twenty-four hours' shooting. 

*121 



122* PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD. 

Now, before I deliberately seek any other game, I am going to get 
at least another and break all records." 

"Bravo!'' cried his companions ;■"" that's the way to talk. 
Another lion first and then the giraffes. Let them wait." 

And within two hours the fourth lion had fallen before the 
former President's rifle. It was a gigantic lioness, beautifully 
modelled and one of the finest specimens ever slain in the province. 

It was driven out of a two-mile stretch of reeds near Kapiti. 
Colonel Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and F. C. Selous, the English 
hunter, were on horseback. Colonel Roosevelt fired as the lioness 
was bounding away across a ridge. The bullet scored its right 
flank, and instantly the animal wheeled and charged. It made 
straight for two beaters at the edge of the swamp. The men were 
filled with terror and threw themselves flat on the ground. 

Colonel Roosevelt waited until the lioness had come within 
fifty feet, then he planted a bullet in its brain. 

ROOSEVELT SHOOTS A WART HOG. 

A wart hog was in the last patch of reeds, and Selous and the 
Roosevelts thought they had another lion. Kermit tried two shots 
without effect, and the pig, a giant porker, crossed the reeds 
toward the former President. Colonel Roosevelt steadied himself 
on his horse, and the pig went down with the third bullet. 

The African w r art hog in appearance, is closely allied to the 
common hog; but is distinguished from it by a pair°of large semi- 
circular lobes or wattles, situated beneath the eyes. The snout also 
is much broader, and very strong and callous. 

These creatures inhabit the wildest, most uncultivated, and 
hottest parts of Africa, from Senegal to Congo; and they are also 
found on the island of Madagascar. The natives carefully avoid 
their retreats, since, from their fierce and savage nature, they often 
rush upon them unawares, and gore them with their tusks. 

They reside principally in subterraneous recesses, which they 
dig by means of their nose and hoofs. If attacked and pursued, 
they rush on their adversary with astonishing force, striking like 



PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLDS RECORD. 



*123 



the common boar, with their tusks, which are capable of inflicting 
the most tremendous wounds. 

A boar of this species was sent by the governor of the Cape 
of Good Hope to the Prince of Orange. From confinement and 
attention he became mild and gentle, except when offended; in 
which case even those persons to whose care he was entrusted, were 
afraid of him. In general, however, when the door of his cage was 



r^€ 



^\:.;; 







WART HOGS. 

opened, he came out in perfect good-humor, gaily frisked about in 
search of food, and greedily devoured whatever was given him. 

He was one day left alone in the court-yard for a few min- 
utes, and on the return of the keeper, was found busily digging 
into the earth, where, notwithstanding the cemented bricks of the 
pavement, he had made an amazingly large hole, with a view, as 
was afterwards discovered, of reaching a common sewer that 
passed at a considerable depth below. It was not without much 



124* PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD. 

trouble, and the assistance of several men, that his labor could be 
interrupted. They at length, however, forced him into his cage; 
but he expressed great resentment, and uttered a sharp and mourn- 
ful noise. 

His motions were altogether much more agile and neat than 
those of the common hog. He would allow himself to be stroked, 
and even seemed delighted with rough friction. When provoked, 
or rudely pushed, he always retired backward, keeping his face 
towards the assailant, and shaking his head or forcibly striking 
with it. When, after long confinement, he was set at liberty for a 
little while, he was very gay, and leaped about in an entertaining 
manner. On these occasions, he would, with his tail erect, some- 
times pursue the fallow-deer and other animals. 

VERY FOND OF RYE-BREAD. 

His food was principally grain and roots; and of the former 
he preferred barley and wheat. He was so fond of rye-bread, that 
he would run after any person who had a piece of it in his hand. 
In the acts of eating and drinking he always supported himself on 
the knees of his fore feet; and would often rest in this position for 
a long time. 

The wart hog also inhabits the Molucca Islands and Java. It 
is remarkable for possessing four tusks, two of which proceed from 
the upper jaw, and do not pass out between the lips, but through an 
aperture in the skin. The sockets of the two upper tusks are curved 
upward, and give a singular appearance to the skull of the animal. 
It looks a ferocious animal, nor do its looks contradict its habits, 
as it is very savage, and cannot be hunted without danger. Yet 
when taken young it can be tamed and conducts itself much after 
the manner of a well-behaved pig. 

From the above it will be seen that on its native heath the wart 
hog is far from being an enemy to be despised. 

After a variety of small game had been secured, the party, 
elated by Colonel Roosevelt's success in breaking all records as a 
lion-slayer, started to return to camp. 

The trip back, however, was not to be without incident. Just 




*125 



126* PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD. 

as the party was nearing their tents, a magnificent cheetah sprang 
from a clump of bushes, barely missing Kermit's pony. 

In an instant the lad's rifle was at his shoulder. He had missed 
several shots at the wart hog, but this time he made sure of his 
aim. 

" Crack! " 

The beautiful creature never took another spring. Kermit's 
bullet ploughed its way to the brain and the animal dropped in its 
tracks, stone-dead. 

Elated, Kermit slipped from his saddle and a moment later 
was standing over his beautiful trophy. 

The cheetah forms the transition between the f elinse and canina, 
or, in other terms, between the dog and cat tribe. By its physical 
organization and its character it belongs, in fact, to both these 
classes. It has non-retractile claws; but in its teeth it unmistak- 
ably shows its affinity to the cat family. 

KERMIT SLAYS CHEETAH. 

Its limbs are also longer, the spinal column is less flexible, and 
the body more slender than that of the other felinae, from whence 
results a greater aptitude for hunting. Its tail is often curled over 
on itself at the extremity, a disposition very common in dogs, but 
which is not observed in the cats. Its mildness, obedient temper, 
and attachment in domesticity, naturally define its place on the 
confines of the feline and the canine family. 

The cheetah inhabits Southern Asia as well as various parts 
of Africa. It is about four feet in length, and twenty-six inches in 
height. Its fur is very elegant, being a bright fawn color above, 
perfectly white beneath, and everywhere interspersed with black 
spots. The tail is barred with twelve alternately white and black 
rings. A quantity of hair, longer than on other parts of the body, 
grows on the back of the head and neck, forming a scanty mane. 

The cheetah seizes its prey by a succession of bounds remark- 
able for their rapidity. In India and Persia has-been adopted the 
habit of training it to hunt certain animals, its natural docility 
allowing it to be readily trained for this service. The custom of 



PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD. 



*127 



employing the female cheetah for hunting goes back to a very 
remote period, for the Arab Rhazes speak of it in the tenth century. 
In Mongolia the following is the method of conducting this 
sport. The sportsmen start off on horseback, carrying the cheetah 
either on a horse, or in a carriage specially constructed for the pur- 
pose. The animal is chained, and its eyes blindfolded. The places 




THE CHEETAH. 



which gazelles frequent are sought out. As soon as one is per- 
ceived, the hunters stop, the cheetah is unfastened, and its eyes 
unbandaged, and the game is pointed out to it. 

Immediately, under cover of the high vegetation and brush- 
wood, the beast glides off in pursuit, taking advantage, with un- 
equalled tact, of the slightest breaks in the ground to conceal its 
movements. When it considers that it is sufficiently near its victim, 



128* PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD 

it suddenly shows itself, dashes on with terrible impetuosity, springs 
on the prey after a succession of prodigious bounds, and immediately 
pulls it to the ground. 

Its master, who has followed the events of the chase, then 
enters upon the scene. To detach it from its victim, he throws it 
a piece of flesh, speaks gently to it, and caresses it; after which he 
again covers its eyes, and replaces it in its conveyance, while the 
assistants carry off the quarry. 

This kind of amusement is greatly in vogue in Mongolia, and 
a well-trained hunting leopard, as the cheetah is called, attains an 
extraordinary price among the inhabitants. 

In Persia this method of hunting is not conducted in quite the 

same way. Men and dogs beat the woods, and drive the game 

towards the hunters, who turn off the cheetahs when the quarry 

passes them. 

EASILY TRAINED AS A DOG. 

These facts sufficiently prove that the cheetah differs essen- 
tially in its nature from the other members of the cat tribe. It is 
tamed almost as easily as the dog, knows and loves its master, rec- 
ognises his voice, and runs to him when called. In its treatment of 
strangers, it is so docile that it may be allowed perfect liberty. In 
menageries it is not necessary to confine it. If allowed to ramble 
about a park it is very submissive to its keeper, and receives with 
the greatest goodwill the caresses of visitors. 

The menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, had one 
for many years, which was brought from Senegal. It had a most 
excellent temper. One day, among the spectators present, it saw 
a little negro who had traveled with it in the same ship, it imme- 
diately testified the greatest pleasure at finding an old friend. 

Despite the facility with which they may be tamed, the cheetah 
in its wild state is a most formidable foe, as will be appreciated from 
its easy conquest of so large an animal as a buck. Kermit, there- 
fore, was exceedingly fortunate in making sure of his quarry at 
the first fire, for had he missed, the cheetah scarcely would have 
failed to drag him from the saddle before he could pull the trigger 
a second time. 



PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD. *129 

The lad hardly had dismounted and reached the side of his 
beautiful victim when Colonel Roosevelt dashed up on his pony. 
He had been riding ahead, but hearing Kermit's shot, spurred his 
mount back to the scene. After praising his son's improving marks- 
manship under the most trying circumstances and admiring the 
kill, he ordered a remount and that the return to the camp be 
resumed. 

But before closing the chapter that deals with Colonel Roose- 
velt's first encounter with the African wild hog, it may be well to 
tell, in the words of another famous hunter, of the perils of an 
encounter with an infuriated boar. 

THE DANGERS OF BOAR-HUNTING. 

This hunter, who is none other than the Rt. Hon. Winston 
Churchill, says: " I cannot pretend to the experience of both coun- 
tries necessary to compare the merits of pig-sticking in India and 
in East Africa in respect to the fighting qualities of the animal, nor 
the ground over which he is pursued. But the courage and feroc- 
ity of the African wart hog, and the extreme roughness of the 
country, heaped as it is with boulders and pitted with deep ant bear 
holes concealed by high grass, make pig-sticking in East Africa a 
sport which well deserves the serious and appreciative attention 
of the most ardent sportsman. The wart hog- is regarded as dan- 
gerous vermin who does incredible damage to native plantations, 
and whose destruction — by any method, even the most difficult — is 
useful as well as exciting. 

" Our first pig was a fine fellow, who galloped off with his 
tail straight up in the air and his tusks gleaming mischievously, 
and afforded a run of nearly three miles before he was killed. The 
risk of the sport consists in this — that the pig cannot be overtaken 
and effectively speared except by a horse absolutely at full gallop. 
The ground is so trappy that one hardly cares to take one's eyes off 
it for a moment. Yet during at least a hundred yards at a time 
the whole attention of the rider must be riveted on the pig, within 
a few yards of whom he is riding, and who may be expected to 
charge at any second. 

9— R. Ex. 




ISO* 



PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD. *131 

" A fall at such a climax is necessarily very dangerous, as the 
wart hog would certainly attack the unhorsed cavalier; yet no one 
can avoid the chance. I do not know whether your true sportsman 
will shudder, but I should certainly recommend the intending hunter 
in East Africa to strap a revolver on his thigh in case of accidents. 
You do not want it often, as the American observed ; but when you 
do, you want it badly." 

In telling of one hunt, he continues : 

" It was late in the afternoon when we started to the train, 
which lay eight miles off on a siding. On the way we fell in with 
a most fierce and monstrous pig, who led us a nice dance through 
bush and grass and boulder. 

CHARGED BY A MONSTROUS PIG. 

" As he emerged into a patch of comparatively smooth, open 
ground I made up my mind to spear him, urged my pony to her 
top speed, and, was just considering how best to do the deed when, 
without the slightest provocation, or at any rate, before he had 
been even pricked, the pig turned sharp round and sprang at me, 
as if he were a leopard. Luckily, my spear got in the way, and with 
a solid jar, which made my arm stiff for a week, drove deep into 
his head and neck before it broke, so that he was glad to sheer off 
with 1 8 inches of it sticking in him, and after a dash at my com- 
panions he took refuge in a deep hole, from which no inducements 
or insults could draw him. 

" Later we rode and killed another pig and chased still another 
unsuccessfully, and it was nearly dark before the railway was 
reached. As I was getting into my coach they calmly told me that 
six lions had walked across the line a quarter of a mile away and a 
quarter of an hour before. A settler who had been to lunch at 
Elmenteita was loading a hastily borrowed revolver, before starting 
on his homeward ride to Nakuru, and as I gave him some cartridges, 
I reflected that, whatever may be the shortcomings of East Africa, 
the absence of an interesting and varied fauna is certainly not 
among them." 

After the party had reached camp Sir Alfred Pease conveyed 



132* PERSISTENCY WINS A WORLD'S RECORD. 

to Colonel Roosevelt the pleasing intelligence that giraffes had 
been sighted off to the southward and suggested that an early 
start be made in the morning to hunt them. 

Strange to relate, however, the Colonel again demurred, declar- 
ing that while he had the record for lion-slaying in the province, he 
wanted to clinch it and make it safe for all time to come by finding 
a few more, if possible. 

" Let the giraffe wait," he said. " They are not likely to bite 
anyone in the meantime, while the lions are. I want to clean out 
the neighborhood if I can. The lion is too dangerous an animal to 
be allowed at large." 

So, with this understanding, the party retired to their tents, 
keen for the morrow's hunt. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

Battling with Desperate Lions — American Adds to His 
Remarkable Record — Kermit Kills Magnificent Zebra 
— Habits oe this Beautiful Beast — Other Game Baggfd 
— Kermit Rides Beside Lioness — Spares Her — Wants to 
Slay Full-Maned Lion — Natives Give Roosevelt New 
Name, Bwana Tumbo. 

EST was added to the next day's sport by the 
thoughts that all records already had been 
broken. All that now remained was for the 
daring American to bring down one or two 
more lions and there would be little danger 
that any hunter who might come after him 
would do better, especially since big game rapidly is van- 
ishing before the march of civilization. 

On the trip out towards the haunts of the lions, a magnificent 
male zebra was sighted and, although the party was after bigger 
game, he presented such a commanding aspect that the former 
President could not resist. Turning to Kermit, who was riding 
by his father's side, he suggested that he add it to his game list. 

A hint was enough. Kermit's rifle cracked. Ten minutes later 
half a dozen natives were busily engaged in skinning the beast, in 
order to carry the beautifully marked pelt back to camp. 

Several other specimens of small game also were secured while 
the party was scouring the plains in search of the King of Beasts. 
Kermit, however, was especially proud of the zebra he had 
killed, for zebras may be said to be the rivals of the giraffe in 
attractive features. This animal, which is sometimes called the 
horse-tiger, is generally esteemed not only the most beautiful of the 
equine family, but one of the most beautiful of quadrupeds, on 
account of the markings of its skin. The ground color is white, or 

*133 



134* THE CONONEL PREFERS LIONS TO GIRAFFES. 

yellowish-white, but the head, body, and legs to the hoofs are regu- 
larly striped, mostly crosswise, with deep brown-black bands, lighter 
in the middle. From this form of marking we have the word 
" zebraed," significant of a regular banding of the skin of an 
animal. 

The ears of the zebra are long, the neck short and deep, with 
a sort of dewlap under the throat, produced by a loose fold of the 
skin; the mane is short, and the tail sparsely clad with long hair. 
The form resembles that of the ass, but the size nearly equals that 
of the horse. Wild and swift, this species live in troops in the bold 
ranges of craggy mountains remote from the abode of man. Its 
disposition is savage and intractable, and it is by no means easily 
obtained, not only from its fleetness, but from the nature of the 
localities it frequents, where, like the wild ass of Thibet, in the 
"wilderness and the barren land is his dwelling; he scorneth the 
multitude of the city." 

MANY ATTEMPTS TO TRAIN THE ZEBRA HAVE FAILED. 

Most attempts to domesticate them, or to train them to the 
service of man, have failed; about a century ago, however, the King 
of Portugal had four of them, which he sometimes drove harnessed 
to his carriage. 

The zebra is larger than the wild ass, sometimes attaining the 
size of a mature Arab horse. The elegant animal is a native of the 
Cape of Good Hope, the whole of southern, and a part of eastern 
Africa. It delights in mountainous countries, and, although it is 
less rapid than the wild ass, its paces are so good that best horses 
alone are able to overtake it. The zebra, as a rule, lives in droves, 
but is very shy in its nature; it is endowed with powers of sight 
that enable it to perceive from great distances the approach of 
hunters. 

The zebra was not unknown to the ancients, who called it 
hippo-tigris. A historian relates that the Emperor Caracalla killed 
on a certain day, in one of the circus combats, an elephant, a rhino- 
ceros, a tiger, and a hippo-tigris. Diodorus of Sicily speaks of the 
hippo-tigris, although in rather obscure terms. The Kings of 




ZEBRA ATTACKED BY A LEOPARD. 



136* THE COLONEL RREFERS LIONS TO GIRAFFES. 

Persia, during certain religious festivals, were accustomed to sacri- 
fice zebras to the sun, a stock of which were kept by these poten- 
tates in some of the islands of the Red Sea. 

The mouth of the zebra is very hard; his ears so sensitive, 
that he winces whenever any person goes to touch him. He is 
restive, like a vicious horse, and obstinate as a mule; but there is 
reason to believe, that if the zebra were accustomed to obedience 
and tameness from his earliest years he would become as mild as the 
horse, and might be substituted in his place. 

A female zebra was brought from the Cape of Good Hope, 
and deposited in the Tower of London. It there showed more than 
the usual impatience of subordination. The person who had accom- 
panied her and attended her there, would sometimes spring on her 
back, and proceed thus for about two hundred yards, when she 
would become restive and oblige him to dismount. She was very 
irritable, and would kick at her keeper. 

A VICIOUS ANIMAL. 

One day she seized him with her teeth, threw him down, and 
showed an intention to destroy him, which he disappointed by rap- 
idly extricating himself. She generally kicked in all directions with 
her feet, and had a propensity to seize with her teeth whatever 
offended her. Strangers she would not allow to approach her, 
unless the keeper held her fast by the head, and even then she was 
very prone to kick. 

The fact that Kermit had bagged a lone zebra made the 
veteran hunters sure that lions were near, for, as previously stated, 
zebra almost always are found in droves, and it is only when a 
company of them is attacked by a lion that one allows itself to be 
separated from its fellows. 

Thus encouraged, the search for the lairs of the great animals 
was pursued with renewed and redoubled ardor. 

Soon the spoor of what appeared to be five lions was struck. 
This the trackers followed till the giant beasts' footprints led 
toward a small clump of trees on the otherwise open prairie. Care- 
fully skirting the bush to be sure that the game was there, the 



THE COLONEL PREFERS LIONS TO GIRAFFES. 



*137 



natives finally returned to where the white hunters were waiting 
for their report. 

Having: satisfied themselves that the quarry was indeed in the 




ZEBRAS OP EASTERN AFRICA. 

clump, all stalked carefully towards a big thorn tree rising above 
the bush This was where the lions were said to be. The bush was 
very open, and when they came in sight of the tree the lions were 
just decamping. 



138* THE COLONEL PREFERS LIONS TO GIRAFFES. 

There were four of them, not five — an old lioness and three 
lions, perhaps not quite full grown, and with very little mane. Ker- 
mit had followed close behind on his pony, so the Colonel shouted 
to him to try and keep his eye on the lioness, and ran on himself with 
Selous after one of the lions. This one did not seem much inclined 
to run, and after a short burst he managed to get a bullet into him 
somewhere just as he disappeared into some thick bushes. 

At that moment they caught sight of another lion trotting 
along parallel about 200 yards off. The wounded one was keeping 
up a continuous low growling in the bushes, so, thinking he would 
not get far away, the Colonel ran to cut off the other. He turned 
off when he caught sight of the hunter, and he had a long, stern 
chase after him, as a result of which he was so blown he could 
not hit him, although he was lobbing along not more than 100 yards 
ahead. 

ROOSEVELT SHOOTS ANOTHER LION. 

At last the American did get a bullet into his flank. He at 
once turned, and growling fiercely, came bounding a few yards 
towards him, as if trying to make up his mind to charge. Whether 
he would have done so or not is uncertain, as the Colonel's second 
shot caught him on the point of the shoulder, bringing him on to 
his nose, and before he could recover himself Colonel Roosevelt 
put in another bullet and finished him. 

While this was going on all could hear Sir Alfred shouting in 
the distance, so now they ran off towards the sound. When they 
started the shouts seemed to be almost stationary, but as the party 
ran they got further, and further off, till at last they could hear 
nothing. The Colonel then turned to go back for the wounded lion. 
As he got near the place he could hear a tremendous row going on, 
men shouting, dogs barking, and the unmistakable grunts of an 
angry lion. 

Running up, he found the lion, with his shoulder broken, stand- 
ing in a bush surrounded at a respectful distance by the little dogs. 
They kept up an incessant yapping, and every now and then the 
lion would make a drive at them, but they were much too quick for 




,*139 



140* THE COLONEL PREFERS LIONS TO GIRAFFES. 

him with his broken shoulder, and were at him again; directly he 
retreated to the bush. Midgari and another of the men were close 
by, yelling with excitement. 

Just as Colonel Roosevelt appeared, Mr. Selous, who had come 
up from the other direction, fired at the wounded beast, but missed. 

In an instant the angry lion turned from the Englishman as if 
in contempt and bounded, on three legs, toward the ex-President. 
Roosevelt stood stock-still for an instant, and with a single well- 
directed bullet ended the beast's suffering. 

KERMIT CHARGED BY A LION. 

In the meantime, they met the chief of the trackers, Hassan, 
together with Kermit, looking rather sorry for themselves. Ker- 
mit said that the lioness had trotted quite quietly at first, and he 
had brought her round in a circle towards the place where he had 
left his father, riding alongside of her, and shouting to let the 
others know where he was. Unluckily she crossed the track of 
the wounded lion, and after smelling at the blood she became per- 
fectly unmanageable, making off at a gallop and charging him 
whenever he got in front to try to turn her. At last she had gone 
into the thick bush on some hills, where he had lost her. When 
they had skinned the other lions they made a cast to try to pick up 
the fourth, but could make nothing of him — they never got this 
lion, although he killed one of their donkeys the next day. 

Kermit declared that the only reason he did not shoot the 
lioness was that he already had bagged one and that the next time 
he wanted a full-maned lion. Nothing else would satisfy him. 
Besides, he said, his father had said: " Keep your eye on her." If 
he had said " Kill her," the lad remarked, it would have been a 
different matter. 

With a record of five lions and a lioness slain in three days, 
Colonel Roosevelt now directed that the party return to camp, pre- 
paratory to shifting the scene of their operations in the hope that 
some other species of big game would be encountered. 

In appreciation of his prowess as a hunter and of his skill as 
a marksman, " Bwana Tumbo " is the name under which Theo- 




*141 



142* THE COLONEL PREFERS LIONS TO GIRAFFES. 

dore Roosevelt now became known by the African natives. In 
accordance with custom this name was given the mighty hunter by 
the chiefs of the party accompanying him. It means, literally trans- 
lated, Portly Master, and is a term of endearment. Colonel Roose- 
velt now had become the idol of the natives, who referred to him 
with superstitious awe as his continued mastery of the rifle was 
shown. 

Two more cases of small-pox meanwhile had been discovered 
among the native porters, but as they were immediately segregated, 
little apprehension was felt, although a close watch was kept over 
natives and white alike for any suspicious symptoms. 

There was a perfect pest of ticks at Kapiti Plairs. While all 
members of the expedition had been bitten, none had yet shown 
signs of the dreaded fever. 

Meanwhile the Sleeping Sickness Commission was hoping that 
Roosevelt will pay a visit to the expedition's camp at Sesse, Uganda, 
where Sir David and Lady Bruce were in charge of the segrega- 
tion hospitals. Altogether seven European doctors have succumbed 
to the fatal disease since the attempts to cope with the evil were 
commenced. 

Governor Sir Hesketh Bell had just appealed to the millionaires 
of the world and others benevolently disposed for money to relieve 
the sufferings due to the bites of the tsetse fly. It is generally 
accepted that one variety of the tsetse fly is the only agent for the 
transmission of the disease. This fly exists in enormous numbers 
on the shores of Victoria Nyanza, and also on the borders of some 
other lakes and rivers of Uganda. Its habitat, however, is restricted 
to a narrow belt of forest growth adjoining water, and a width 
of two miles is believed to be the limit of the infested zones. 

The extermination of the tsetse appears to be a hopeless task, 
and it had therefore been decided to remove all the surviving popu- 
lation out of the reach of the fatal fly. 




CHAPTER IX. 

Facing a 'Rhino's Charge— HeeeER Teles o-e Coming Scenes- 
Daring Death Amid CrocodieES— Saved by Lucky Shot- 
Slaying Giant Hippopotamus — Natives to the Scene- 
Rhinoceros More Dangerous than Lion — Armor-Peated 
Destruction. 

ESTLESS, not one of the party felt that he could 
compose himself to sleep. So again, as they 
had two nights before, the white men gath- 
ered about the fire— for its light, rather 
than because warmth was necessary. Again 
the older hunters of the party began to nar- 
rate past experiences. 
Heller, who was of the original party, had the floor. 
He had been in Africa before and knew every inch of the 
country the party were to traverse. _ He began by telling of the 
jungle beyond Nairobi, which the party soon were to visit. For 
this reason, if for no other, he was listened to with breathless 
interest. 

" Immediately after passing the Nandi hills the descent of the 
plateau of the Victoria region commences," he said. " The coun- 
try rapidly sinks in level from this point to the Nyanza. We leave 
the train at Port Florence, at the head of the Gulf or Bay of Kavi- 
rondo. There are only about one hundred white people there and 
three thousand natives, mostly from the village of Kisumu. 

" These Kavirondos are a peaceful agricultural race. Theii 
villages are surrounded by a deep ditch and a clay wall, and consist 
of little circular huts with walls only four feet high, with grass, 
roofs. Their clothing is conspicuous by its absence, but, as is always 
the case in scantily clothed races, they are peculiarly moral compared 
with the tribes who have adopted a certain amount of clothing. 
" Whenever we passed close to a village, the men and women 

*143 



'- ' l8§$ '' l fttln 



iiiii 




144* 



THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 



*145 



came outside of the village hedge in groups, quite naked, to see us 
go by. The more inquisitive of the young men and women ran 
down to the very path, and when we had camped for the day our 
tents were instantly surrounded by laughing crowds of these merry 
people. They had not the remotest idea that they were quite naked. 
When they saw our porters in trousers or sorts some of the girls 
made a string of a few blades of grass and, putting it around their 
waists, suspended a leaf of a weed or tree in front. 




HOUSE BUILDING AMONG THE KAN1R0ND0S. 

' While camped at Kitoto's village I called up a few of the 
men and began making vocabularies and getting what information 
I could about the country. We were not long thus engaged when 
a batch of naked young women came up to see what we were doing 
or talking about. I gave the girls pieces of American sheeting to 
wrap around their loins. They had no idea what was meant when 

10— R. Ex. 



146* THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 

the cloth was handed to them until I tied it around one of them. 
Then the others fastened their pieces around their waists, but 
directly they left my tent they threw them away. 

" Ferguson, my companion, had some business to attend to at 
Port Florence in connection with the shipment of some goods 
across the lake to Entebbe, the port of Uganda. " We will put up 
here for the night," said he, " and in the morning we will start up 
the coast on a real big game hunt. Better get all the rest you can, 
for to-morrow we will start on the trail of the rhino — the fiercest 
and maddest beast in all Africa. Lion? Bah! Hunting the ' king 
of beasts ' is child's play compared with tackling a rhinoceros. 

" A lion will only fight when he is driven into a corner and his 
escape is cut off, but a rhino! He's got a chip on his shoulder all 
the blessed time. One minute he will turn on steam and go crashing 
through the bushes after a jackal, and an hour later he will charge 
recklessly into a herd of elephants, or scatter a family of lions. 
There isn't a scrap of fear in his leathery carcass. 

A RHINOCEROS VISION IS DEAD AHEAD. 

" There are only two things that stop him from exterminating 
all the other animals in Africa — his range of vision is dead ahead, 
and he is so bulky that he can't turn except in a considerable circle. 
With a sense of hearing as keen as a fox, a bulletproof hide and a 
supernatural sense of smell, he is the most formidable brute a hunter 
will behold over his gunsights, and God help a man if he has not 
got the hardest steel in his bullets and in his nerves when one of 
these 3,000-pound brutes comes charging down on him with his 
ugly horn advanced. 

" A dozen bullets from the most powerful express rifle made 
will no more stop the rush of a rhino than a popgun could stop a 
battleship, unless they pierce the brain. The heaviest bullet will not 
reach a vital spot after going through that great bone snout. 

" Having wounded a rhino, there will be but one thing for a 
hunter to do — to take aim at the centre of his forehead for a second 
shot. If he misses he will never fire another shot. If I did not 
know that I was a dead shot and that the boys were to be relied 




*147 



148* THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 

upon I wouldn't dream of taking you along. You've hunted grizz- 
lies? So have I, but to-morrow's sport will be something entirely 
different. " 

" And it was. The four of us started out at 6 a. m., after a 
substantial breakfast, along the wooded shores and swamps of the 
Kavirondo. The country was an overflowing chaos of vegetable 
life. We skirt dense forests, where the ground is covered with a 
tossing welter of luxuriant undergrowth, vivid with many tints 
of green. But it isn't all beautiful. We come on patches of swamp 
where we flounder knee deep along patches of slimy evil-smelling 
mud winding between high walls of tangled reeds. 

" But most dreaded of all is the glossina papalis, a fly of the 
tsetse specie, which haunts these beautiful wilds, and whose bite 
means a lingering and agonizing death. We have protected our- 
selves from its attacks by smearing our faces, necks and hands with 
vaseline and icthyol. 

EXCEEDINGLY SHY AFTER A FEW SHOTS. 

" We occasionally saw the uncouth head of a hippopotamus 
protrude from the water, and we decided to shoot one. They were 
exceedingly shy after a few shots, exhibiting the snout only to 
draw breath, and instantly withdrawing it. Ferguson managed to 
hit one behind the ear, which is a vulnerable spot, and it spun 
around in a huge circle like a great top, emitting horrifying sounds, 
until it died, and the body floated on the water. 

" A large number of Kavirondos had gathered around us, 
attracted by the shots and the prospects of hippo meat. Well, there 
was two tons of it lying on the water, but the intervening distance 
was alive with crocodiles. Ferguson suggested to the natives that 
one of them should swim out with a rope so that we could drag 
the hippo in, but no amount of eloquence would induce them to 
enter the water. 

" Without further ado Ferguson, to my horror, pulled off his 
boots, and, seizing the end of the rope, jumped into the river. Al- 
most instantly the dark form of a crocodile glided in his direction. 
Sick with fear, I raised my rifle and fired at its head. Thank God ! 




*149 



150* THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 

My shot had stopped the loathsome maneater, and a few moments 
later Ferguson clambered onto the slippery carcass of the hippo 
and fastened the rope around its legs. By this time there were 
more than a hundred men and women gathered on the shore, and 
Ferguson and the enormous seacow were dragged high and dry 
onto the grass bank. 

' The scene that followed beggars description. The news of 
the killing of the hippo spread like wildfire, and fully 300 nake^l 
Kavirondos fell upon the carcass like vultures, fighting for a piece 
of the meat. Occasionally cutting one another's feet and legs in 
mistake for the hippo, they hacked away until the huge body was 
totally cut up and carried off in all directions. Only the Kavirondo 
men eat hippo meat, the women abstaining from it through a cur- 
ious fear of being childless. They will, however, fight like wild- 
cats to secure a piece of hippo meat for their lords and masters. 

FIGHTING FGR A PIECE OF HIPPOPOTAMUS MEAT. 

' The landscape soon resembled a meat market, where bushes 
were converted into shambles and their branches were bending to 
the ground overloaded with meat. The natives formed themselves 
into parties, each carrying portions to their respective huts as fast 
as they could. Some being more expeditious than others excited 
jealousy, and soon caused a frightful uproar. 

' The legs and feet were cooked by a singular process. Sev- 
eral ants' nests, which are composed of hard clay, were dug up near 
by. and their occupants destroyed. The space thus obtained was 
filled with lighted fuel till the bottom and sides within became red 
hot. The embers were then removed, the leg or foot of the hippo 
introduced and the door closed up with heated clay and embers. 

" Fire was also made on the outside over the nests and the flesh 
allowed to remain for several hours, when it was delicious, resem- 
bling pork in flavor. We soon tired, however, of this scene of broil- 
ing, gnawing and chewing and proceeded on our way, for the hippo 
after all is tame sport, and nothing less than a rhino would satisfy 
us this day. 

' We started off in the direction of a thicket which extended 




*151 



152* THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 

almost down to the river, where we felt pretty sure of finding our 
game. We forced our way for several miles through thorny creep- 
ers and bushes, the " wait-a-bit " thorn catching in our clothes and 
justifying its name by compelling us to halt every now and then to 
extricate ourselves. Emerging onto an open space, we sighted a 
herd of water-buck. 

" I quickly knelt down and raised my rifle. Crack ! and one was 
on his back battling the air with his legs, and then the rest bounded 
off like lightning. I soon put the unfortunate creature out of his 
misery, and the boys were engaged in cutting it up when we heard 
a crashing sound from the thicket, and the next moment a vicious 
looking rhinoceros was charging down on us. 

With a shout of warning Wakuncli sprang behind a bush and 
I followed suit. Ferguson, with his usual magnificent nerve, stood 
firm as a rock, rifle in hand, ready to fire, and knowing full well 
that if he missed he would be gored to death. 

CLOSE CALL FOR THE HUNTERS. 

" Flight was out of the question. As the infuriated brute — 
the only one in all Africa which will relentlessly pursue a man 
directly it catches sight of him — came rushing on. Ferguson raised 
his rifle and fired, and almost at the same moment Wakundi's rifle 
and my own spoke. Before the smoke had cleared away Ferguson 
had leaped to one side, as the rhino sank to the ground uttering a 
loud scream of pain and anger. In vain it attempted to rise as 
Wakundi and Chumah sank their hunting knives into its breast. 

" The rhino, by the way, always charges in a straight line, 
trampling down underbrush and small trees as if he were making 
a trail through a flower garden. Caught in the whirlwind rush, a 
native will sometimes stand stock still, hoping the animal will mis- 
take him for a tree and pass on, which he occasionally does. 

" Until I knew the rhinoceros I supposed the elephant to be 
the boss of the forest and plain," said Ferguson, as the boys were 
cutting out the horn and part of the flesh of the rhino. " I hadn't 
been very long in Africa when I found out that the elephant played 
second fiddle. We were hiding at a water hole one day to watch 







*153 



154* THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 

the direction taken by a troop of nine elephants who were loafing 
about. 

" They were not yet ready to go when a bull rhinoceros 
appeared on a path about twenty rods away. He stood in the open 
and took a long survey of the elephants. As they caught sight of 
him they crowded together, as if alarmed, but it never occurred 
to me that they would shirk a fight. The rhino got ready after a 
bit, and with a loud snort he came charging down. Among the 
nine was a colossal elephant — about as big as Jumbo. 

" The rhino made directly for the big fellow, and he struck 
him on the left shoulder, knocking him clean into the pool, and then 
fell over him. The sight of those two huge beasts floundering about 
in the water was the funniest thing I ever saw. All the other ele- 
phants bolted, and the big one managed to scramble out of the water 
and ran bellowing away, with the rhino digging him in the rear 
with his horn." 

RHINOCEROS "BUTTED INTO" AN ELEPHANT HUNT. 

Mr. Cuninghame then related an adventure where a rhinoceros 
" butted into " an elephant hunt. After giving some of the earlier 
details, in which he told of being hurt, he went on as follows : 

" Once more," he sa} r s, " the trumpeting burst forth, the 
sounds echoing through the forest. A minute afterwards I heard 
the crashing of boughs and brushwood some way off. I guessed, as 
I listened, that the animal was coming towards where I lay. The 
sounds increased in loudness. Should it discover me it would prob- 
ably revenge itself by crushing me to death, or tossing me in the 
air with its trunk. I had my rifle ready to fire. There was a chance 
that I might kill it or make it turn aside. The ground where I lay 
sloped gradually downwards to a more open spot. I expected the 
next instant that the elephant would appear. It did so, but further 
off than I thought it would, and I thus began to hope that I should 
escape its notice. It was moving slowly, though trumpeting with 
pain and rage. 

' The instant I caught sight of it another huge creature rushed 
out of the thicket on the opposite side of the glade. It was a huge 



THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 



*155 



bull rhinoceros with a couple of sharp-pointed horns, one behind 
the other. 

" The elephant on seeing it stopped still, as if wishing to avoid 
a contest with so powerful an antagonist. I fully expected to wit- 
ness a long and terrible fight, and feared that, in the struggle, the 
animals might move towards where I lay and crush me. That the 




" THE RHINOCEROS DROVE ITS HORNS INTO ITS BODY 



elephant was wounded I could see by the blood streaming down its 
neck. 

" This probably made it less inclined to engage in a battle with 
the rhinoceros. Instead of advancing, it stood whisking its trunk 
about and trumpeting. The rhinoceros, on the contrary, after 
regarding it for a moment, rushed fearlessly forward and drove its 
sharp-pointed horns into its body while it in vain attempted to 
defend itself with its trunk. 

" The two creatures were now locked together in a way which 
made it seem impossible for them to separate, unless the horns of 
the rhinoceros were broken off. Never did I witness a more furious 



156* THRILLING STORIES OF DANGEROUS EXPERIENCES. 

fight. The elephant attempted to throw itself down on the head of 
its antagonist, and thereby only drove the horns deeper into its 
own body. So interested was I, that I forgot the pain I was suffer- 
ing, while I could hear no other sounds than those produced by the 
two huge combatants. While I was watching them, I felt a hand 
on my shoulder, and saw one of our party standing over me. 

' I am sorry you have met with this accident ! ' he exclaimed. 
' The sooner you get away from this the better. There is a safer 
spot a little higher up the bank. We will carry you there.' 

' I willingly consenting, my friends did as they proposed, as 
from thence I could watch the fight with greater security. They, 
having placed me in safety, hurried towards the combatants, hop- 
ing to kill both of them before they separated. 

' The elephant, already wounded, appeared likely to succumb 
without our further interference. There was indeed little chance 
of its attempting to defend itself against them. One of the men 
sprang forward until he got close up to the animals, and firing he 
sent a bullet right through the elephant's heart. The huge creature 
fell over, pressing the rhinoceros to the ground. As the great beast 
was now pinned fast and unable to escape, it was not difficult to 
dispatch him, and this was quickly done." 

Throughout these recitals both Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit 
sat, breathlessly listening. If anyone of their companions imagined 
for an instant that these tragic escapes filled either one of the two 
Americans with terror, he was sadly mistaken. All the Colonel 
said was : " Kermit, we must make sure of our aim. Then all will 
be well." 

And, after all, that remark is characteristic of the whole career 
of the man, whether he was sitting in the White House or was fac- 
ing the raging beasts in the heart of the Dark Continent. 



CHAPTER X. 




Hunters' Tales Inspire American — Refuses to Break Camp 
till He Captures Rhinoceros — Loring Bags Leopard — 
Saves Life oe a Native — The Colonel's Story oe Rhino- 
ceros Hunt — Two Big Ones Seain — Daring Scenes in 
Hunt — Habits oe the " Battleship oe the Plains." 

ARLY the next morning the camp was astir. 
k When Colonel Roosevelt emerged from his 
tent, after a hasty toilet, he was astonished 
to find the porters busy in their prepara- 
tions to break camp and to return to the 
ranch of Sir Alfred Pease. 

"What's this? what's this?" he de- 
manded. " You had ordered that camp be 
broken, Excellency," replied Hassan, the head porter, humbly. 

"So I had; so I had," laughed the distinguished American, 
" but second thoughts are always better, as the poor widower 
remarked when he married a rich woman." 

' You see," he continued to Selous, who had joined the group, 
" those rhinoceros stories have set my blood to tingling. If Sir 
Alfred has no objections, I should like to stay here till I had had a 
trial at this ' battleship of the jungle.' Maybe he will not give quite 
so good an account of himself as our American armor-clads are 
accustomed to doing." 

Then, recollecting that his auditor was a Briton, he hastily 
added with his usual tact: 

" Or your British battleships, either, for the matter of that." 
"A continued stay in the hills was, of course, perfectly agreeable to 
Sir Alfred, and it was so arranged. 

The first day, however, failed to reveal a rhinoceros, although 
a large variety of smaller game was shot, mostly by Kermit, whose 
aim and coolness daily were becoming more perfect. 

*157 



158* THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. 

One incident of the hunt, however, came very near to resulting 
fatally to one of the native trackers, who, armed with spear alone, 
had ventured into a small copse of wood, in the hope of arousing a 
rhino. 

Had it not been for a fine shot from Loring's rifle he would 
have paid the penalty of his rashness with his life, for scarcely had 
he entered the clump than he was seized by an immense leopard. 
As it was, he was badly clawed before Loring's bullet laid him low. 

The second day, however, was more productive of results, as 
the following account, told as if in the Colonel's own words, will 
attest: 

I had been observing the country for some time from my high 
station, when I suddenly perceived two rhinoceroses emerge from 
a ravine; they walked slowly through a patch of high grass, and 
skirted the base of the hill upon which we were standing; presently 
they winded something, and they trotted back and stood concealed 
in the patch of grass. 

* 

SENDS FOR HIS HORSES. 

Although I had a good view of them from my present position, 
I knew that I should not be able to see them in their covert if on 
the same level; I therefore determined to send to the tent for my 
other horses, and to ride them down if I could not shoot them on 
foot ; accordingly, I sent a man off, directing him to lead the horse 
I had been riding from the peak and to secure him to a tree at the 
foot of the hill, as I was afraid the rhinoceros might observe the 
horse upon the sky line. This he did, and we saw him tie the horse 
by the bridle to the branch of a tree below us, while he ran quickly 
towards the camp. 

In the meantime I watched the rhinoceroses ; both animals laid 
down in the yellow grass, resembling masses of stone. They had 
not been long in this position before we noticed two wart hogs 
wandering through the grass directly to windward, toward the 
sleeping rhinoceroses; in an instant these animals winded the 
intruders, and starting up they looked in all directions but could not 
see them, as they were concealed by the high grass. 




*159 



160* THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. 

Having been thus disturbed, the rhinoceroses moved their 
quarters and walked slowly forward, occasionally halting and list- 
ening; one was about a hundred yards in advance of the other. 
They were taking a direction at the base of the hill that would lead 
them directly upon the spot where my horse was tied to the tree. 
I observed this to Cummings, who was with me, as I feared they 
would kill the horse. " Oh, no," he replied, " they will lie down and 
sleep beneath the first tree, as they are seeking for shade — the sun 
is like fire." 

THE RHINOCEROS ATTACKS THE HORSE. 

However, they still continued their advance, and upon reach- 
ing some rising ground, the leading rhinoceros halted, and I felt 
sure that he had a clear view of the horse, that was now about five 
hundred yards distant, tied to the tree. A ridge descended to the 
hill, parallel with the course the animals were taking; upon this I 
ran as quickly as the stony slope permitted, keeping my eye fixed 
upon the leading rhinoceros, which, with his head raised, was 
advancing directly towards the horse. I now felt convinced that he 
intended to attack it. 

The horse did not observe the rhinoceros, but was quietly stand- 
ing beneath the tree. I ran as fast as I was able, and reached the 
bottom of the hill just as the willful brute was within fifty yards 
of the horse, which now for the first time saw the approaching 
danger ; the rhinoceros had been advancing steadily at a walk, but 
he now lowered his head and charged at the horse at full speed. 

I was about two hundred yards distant, and for the moment I 
was afraid of shooting the horse, but I fired my rifle and the bul- 
let, missing the rhinoceros, dashed the sand and stones into his 
face as it struck the ground exactly before his nose, when he 
appeared to be just into the unfortunate horse. The horse in the 
same instant reared, and breaking the bridle, dashed away in the 
direction of the camp, while the rhinoceros, astonished at the shot, 
and most likely half blinded by the sand and splinters of rock, 
threw up his head, turned round, and trotted back upon the track 
by which he had arrived. He passed me about a hundred yards dis- 



THE BATTLESHIP OF THE TUNGLE. 



*161 



tant, as I had run forward to a bush, by which he trotted with his 
head raised, seeking for the cause of his discomfiture. 

Crack! went a bullet against his hide, as I fired at his shoulder; 
he cocked his tail, and for a few yards charged towards the shot; 
but he suddenly changed his course and ran round several times 




" CRACK ! WENT A BULLET AGAINST HIS HIDE." 

in a small circle; he then halted, and reeling to and fro, retreated 
very slowly, and laid down about a hundred yards off. I knew that 
he had his quietus, but I was determined to bag his compainon 
which in alarm had now joined him, and stood looking in all quar- 
ters for the scent of danger ; but we were well concealed behind the 
bush. 

11— R. Ex. 



*1 6 2 THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. 

Presently the wounded rhinoceros stood up, and, walking very 
slowly, followed by his comrade, he crossed a portion of rising 
ground at the base of the hill, and both animals disappeared. 

I at once started off one of my native porters, who could run 
like an antelope, in search of the horse, while I despatched another 
man to the summit of the peak to see if the rhinoceroses were in 
view ; if not, I knew they must be among the small trees and bushes 
at the foot of the hill. 

I thus waited for a long time, until at length horses arrived 
with my messenger from the camp. I had just mounted, when my 
eyes were gladdened by the sight of my favorite animal cantering 
towards me, but from the exact direction the rhinoceroses had 
taken. " Quick! quick! " cried the rider, " come along! One rhino- 
ceros is lying dead close by, and the other is standing beneath a tree 
not far off." 

THE RHINOCEROS LAY KICKING ON THE GROUND. 

I immediately started, found the rhinoceros lying dead about 
two hundred yards from the spot where he had received the shot, 
and I immediately perceived the companion standing beneath a 
small tree. The ground was firm and stony, and all the grass had 
been burned off except in a few small patches; the trees were not 
so thick together as to form a regular jungle. 

The rhinoceros saw us directly, and valiantly stood and faced 
me as I rode up within fifty yards of him. I was unable to take a 
shot in this position, therefore I ordered the men to ride round a 
half-circle, as I knew the rhinoceros would turn towards the white 
horses and thus expose his flank; this he did immediately, and firing 
well, exactly at the shoulder, I dropped him as though stone dead. 

The rhinoceros lay kicking upon the ground, and I thought 
he was bagged. Not a bit of it! the bullet had not force to break 
the massive shoulder-bone, but had merely paralyzed it for the 
moment; up he jumped and started off in full gallop. Now for a 
hunt! up the hill he started, then obliquely; choosing a regular 
rhinoceros path, he scudded away, my horse answering to the spur 
and closing with him; through the trees, now down the hill over 



THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. 



463 



the loose rocks, where he gained considerably upon the horse. I 
took a pull at the reins until I reached the level ground beneath, 
which was firm and first-rate. This gave me just the advantage 
I needed for successful operations. 

I saw the rhinoceros pelting away about a hundred and twenty 
yards ahead, and spurring hard, I shot up to him at full speed until 




Hi 






BR! 







«» 




vp^^^^^^^^^^ 



A DESPERATE RACE. 

within twenty yards, when round he came with astonishing quick- 
ness and charged straight at the horse. I was prepared for this, as 
was my horse also; we avoided him by a quick turn, and again 
renewed the chase, and regained our position within a few yards of 
the game. 

Thus the hunt continued for about a mile and a half, the rhino- 
ceros occasionally charging, but always cleverly avoided by the 



164* THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. 

horse, which seemed to enjoy the fun, and hunted like a greyhound. 
Nevertheless I had not been able to pass the rhinoceros; he had 
thundered along at a tremendous pace whenever I had attempted 
to close; however, the pace began to tell upon his wounded shoul- 
der; he evidently went lame, and as I observed at some distance 
before us the commencement of the dark-colored rotten ground. 
I felt sure that it would shortly be a case of " stand still." 

In this I was correct, and upon reaching the deep and crum- 
bling soil, he turned sharp around, made a clumsy charge that I 
easily avoided, and stood panting at bay. Cummings was riding 
a very timid horse which was utterly useless as a hunter, but, as it 
reared and plunged upon seeing the rhinoceros, that animal imme- 
diately turned towards it with the intention of charging. Riding 
close to his flank, I fired both barrels of my rifle into the shoulder; 
he fell at the shots, and stretching out his legs convulsively he died 

immediately. 

LOST A GOOD HORSE. 

This was a capital termination to the hunt, as I had expected 
the death of my good horse, when the first rhinoceros had so nearly 
horned him. The sun was like a furnace, therefore I rode straight 
to camp and sent for the hides and flesh. As I passed the body of 
the first rhinoceros, I found a regiment of vultures already col- 
lected around it. 

The following description of the rhinoceros may appropriately 
be given here: 

Both varieties of the' African black rhinoceros are extremely 
fierce and dangerous, and rush headlong and unprovoked at any 
object which attracts their attention. They never attain much fat, 
and their flesh is tough, and not much esteemed. Their food con- 
sists almost entirely of the thorny branches of the " wait-a-bit " 
thorns. Their horns are much shorter than those of the other 
varieties, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in length. They are 
finely polished by constant rubbing against the trees. The skull is 
remarkably formed, its most striking feature being the tremendous, 
thick ossification in which it ends above the nostrils. It is on this 
mass that the horn is supported. 



THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. *165 

The horns are not connected with the skull, being attached 
merely by the skin, and they may thus be separated from the head 
by means of a sharp knife. They are hard, and perfectly solid 
throughout, and are a fine material for various articles, such as 
drinking-cups, mallets for rifles, and handles for turners' tools. 
The horn is capable of a very high polish. 

The eyes of the rhinoceros are small and sparkling, but do not 
readily observe the hunter, provided he keep to leeward of them. 
The skin is extremely thick, and only to be penetrated with hard- 
ened bullets. During the day, the rhinoceros will be found lying 
asleep, or standing indolently in some retired part of the forest, 
or under the base of the mountains, sheltered from the power of 
the sun by some friendly grove of umbrella-topped mimosas. 

TRAVEL MOSTLY AT NIGHT. 

In the evening they commence their nightly ramble, and wander 
over a great extent of country. They usually visit the fountains 
between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock at night, and it is on 
these occasions that they may be most successfully hunted, and with 
the least danger. 

The black rhinoceros is subject to paroxysms of unprovoked 
fury, often plowing up the ground for several yards with its horn, 
and assaulting large bushes in the most violent manner. On these 
bushes they work for hours with their horns, at the same time 
snorting and blowing loudly, nor do they leave them in general until 
they have broken them into pieces. All the four varieties delight 
to roll and wallow in the mud, with which their rugged hides are 
generally encrusted. 

Both varieties of the black rhinoceros are much smaller and 
more active than the white, and are so swift that a horse with a 
rider on its back can rarely overtake them, yet they are often hunted 
with horses. Both attain an enormous size, being the animals next 
in magnitude to the elephant. They feed solely on grass, carry 
much fat, and their flesh is excellent, being preferable to beef. 
They are of a much milder and more inoffensive disposition than 



166* 



THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. 



the black rhinoceros, rarely charging their pursuer. Their speed 
is very inferior to that of the other varieties. 

If we examine the skull of a rhinoceros, we shall find that just 
under the place where the root of the horn lies, there is a peculiar 
development of the bone on which the weight of the horn rests. 




CAMP ATTACKED BY A RHINOCEROS. 

Now, it is well known that of all forms intended to support great 
weight, the arch is the strongest. 

Such, then, is the form of the bone which supports the horn; 
and in order to prevent the jar on the brain which would probably 
injure the animal when making violent strokes with the horn, one 
side of the arch is left unsupported by its pillar ; so that the whole 
apparatus presents the appearance of a strong bony spring, which, 
although very powerful, would yield sufficiently, on receiving a 



THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. *167 

blow, to guard the animal from the shock which would occur were 
the horn to be placed directly on the skull. Such a structure as this 
is not needed in the case of the elephant, as that animal never strikes 
violently with its tusks, as the rhinoceros does with its horn. 

Figner tells how the most daring natives sometimes slay the 
rhino. Two men ride on the same horse. The one is dressed, and 
armed with javelins ; the other is naked, and has nothing but a long 
sword in his hand. The first sits on the saddle, the second rides 
behind him on the horse's rump. Directly they have got on the 
track of the quarry, they start off in pursuit of it, taking care to 
keep at a great distance from the rhinoceros when it plunges into 
the thickets, in the midst of which it opens for itself a broad passage, 
which closes as the animal passes on, but the moment it arrives in 
an open spot they pass it, and place themselves opposite to it. 

HOW TO AVOID ITS FURIOUS ASSAULT. 

The animal, in a rage, hesitates for a moment, then rushes 
furiously upon the horse and its riders. These avoid the assault 
by a quick movement to the right or the left, and the man who car- 
ries the long sword lets himself slide off on to the ground without 
being perceived by the rhinoceros, which alone takes notice of the 
horse. Then the courageous hunter, with one blow of his formi- 
dable Durandal, cuts through the tendon of the ham or hock of one 
of the monster's hind legs, which causes it to fall to the ground, 
when it is despatched with arrows and the sword. 

On the whole we think the reader will agree with us that Col- 
onel Roosevelt's way, though dangerous in the extreme, is decidedly 
the preferable one. 

But hunting " big game," of course, could not be pursued all 
the while. In order to assist in the support of the large party, and 
at the same time to see the adjacent country, the white hunters 
went several times, during their stay, to the north of the camp for 
game. 

The country is covered with clumps of beautiful trees, among 
which fine open glades stretch away in every direction; when the 
river is in flood these are inundated, but the tree-covered elevated 



168* THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. 

spots are much more numerous here than in the country further 
back. The soil is dark loam, as it is everywhere on spots reached 
by the inundation, while among the trees it is sandy, and not cov- 
ered so densely with grass as elsewhere. 

A sandy ridge covered with trees, running parallel to and about 
eight miles from the river, is the limit of the inundation on the 
north; there are large tracts of this sandy forest in that direction, 
till you come to other districts of alluvial soil and fewer trees. The 
latter soil is always found in the vicinity of rivers which either now 
overflow their banks annually or formerly did so. 

Great numbers of zebras, tsessebes, tahaetsi, and eland, or 
pohu, grazed undisturbed on the plains, so that very little exertion 
was required to secure a fair supply of meat for the party during 
the necessary delay. 

HUNTING ON FOOT HARD WORK. 

Hunting on foot, as all those who have engaged in it in this 
country, will at once admit, is very hard work indeed. The heat 
of the sun by day is so great, had there been any one on whom the 
white men could have thrown the task, the toil is supposed to im- 
part. But the natives shot so badly, that, in order to save their 
powder, the whites were obliged to go. 

Kermit shot a beautiful cow-eland, standing in the shade of 
a fine tree. It was evident that she had lately had her calf killed 
by a lion, for there were long deep scratches on both sides of her 
hind-quarters, as if she had run to the rescue of her calf, and the 
lion, leaving it, had attacked herself, but was unable to pull her 
down. 

When lying on the ground, the milk flowing from the large 
udder showed that she must have been seeking the shade, from the 
distress its non-removal in the natural manner caused. She was a 
beautiful creature, and one of the Christianized natives, speaking 
in reference to its size and beauty, said, " Jesus ought to have given 
us these instead of cattle." 

It was a new variety of this splendid antelope. It was marked 
with narrow white bands across the body, exactly like those of the 



THE BATTLESHIP OF THE JUNGLE. *169 

koodoo, and had a black patch of more than a hand-breadth on the 
outer side of the forearm. 

Except for the heat, it was not unpleasant work for Kermit 
especially, for most of his shots at big game had been with the 
camera. Among the smaller mammalia he slaughtered at will. 

The most unpleasant experience Kermit had was one day when, 
in company with a score of native bearers and guides, he was 
obliged to wade waist-deep through a wide morass in order to get 
back to camp by nightfall. It was not dangerous, of course, but 
the slimy ooze made it decidedly disagreeable. 

The naturalists of the party were kept busy preparing the 
trophies which Colonel Roosevelt and his son Kermit were bring- 
ing in daily. Forty-five skins already had been prepared for the 
Smithsonian Institution at Washington. 




CHAPTER XL 

Captures Mysterious Okapi Aeive — Hopes That It May Live 
to Reach America — Oney Fragments oe Body Found 
Hitherto — Two Giraefes Seain — Kermit Kites Buee 
Giraffe in Run — Rooseveet Luck Lasts. 

N the region about Machokos, where the Mau 

hills' camp was located, there now remained 

but few species of really large game which 

Colonel Roosevelt had not bagged. Indeed, 

not only the large beasts had fallen before his 

rifle, but many species of small animals, besides 

numerous curious fowls, had been shot. 

Kermit had been especially active and was rapidly acquiring a 

most remarkable facility with the rifle. It now came to be a rare 

thing for him to make a complete miss when he aimed at any game 

within a reasonable distance, and it was but seldom that his first 

bullet failed to reach a vital spot. 

Colonel Roosevelt's interest in his son's prowess and progress 

was not second to his desire to himself secure game, and not a few 

hours were spent at his son's side, giving such advice as to the best 

means of capturing the quarry. 

So, taken all in all, the hunt progressed with the most lively 

satisfaction on the part of the Americans. 

The next two days, however, were to see big additions to their 

game bag. On the first day two giraffes, one leopard, a monster 

of elands and several buffalo were secured, and on the next another 

rhinoceros, while Kermit's cup of joy was overflowing over his 

success in killing a big bull giraffe. 

Besides, two leopard cubs and a living okapi were captured. 

The okapi was only in fairly good condition physically, but hopes 

were entertained that it would be sent to America alive. 

Before going further, it will be desirable to tell something of 
170* 



ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 



*171 



the latter animal, one of the rarest and most remarkable beasts in 
the whole dark continent. Ex-President Roosevelt's capture is the 
first one ever found alive, or, for the matter of that, dead with its 
body complete. 

Eight or ten years ago the whole zoological world was startled 
by the reported discovery in Central Africa of a large mammal quite 
unknown up to that time. The discovery of unclassified fossil 
remains has become of almost daily occurrence, but that any exist- 





torn 



HEADLONG CHASE OF TFKEE ELANDS. 

ing beast of the size reported should have escaped detection until 
the twentieth century seemed incredible. 

Sir Harry Johnston brought to the coast a part of the dried 
skin of an animal that one of the wild tribes of the interior called 
okapi, which they reported existed in their country in some num- 
bers. Since then various attempts had been made to introduce to 
the scientific world an entire specimen, with but small success. 

In European museums a patched-up hide or two is mounted in 
a glass case, but the entire skin of an adult okapi is yet to be exhib- 



172* ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 

ited. Of course, the perfect skeleton is still more difficult to pro- 
cure, and it will probably be some time before the osteologists have 
a good chance to examine a specimen, unless the ex-President's 
capture dies. In this country there are no fragments of okapi 
worth mentioning. 

The okapi is extremely timid, seems to be without curiosity, is 
very fleet, and is persistently hunted by the natives of its locality, 
hence a part of the difficulty of a sight and capture of the animal. 
To add to the okapi's diffident nature, there is the hardship of hunt- 
ing in its favorite resorts. So far as known, unlike most antelope 
and the giraffe, it rarely takes to the open, but lives and breeds in 
the densest jungles. These lie principally to the west of Tangan- 
yika, and are of the impassable variety fully equaling the best 
examples of those along the Amazon, though decidedly dryer. 

A MYSTERIOUS ANIMAL. 

The okapi itself may be briefly described as a cross between the 
giraffe and the zebra, though every amateur naturalist knows that 
such hybridization does not occur. It has a grayish-tan skin, rather 
longer front legs than hind legs, a neck somewhat longer than a 
zebra's, a small head without horns, and on each side of the hind 
quarters three dark stripes running nearly vertically. The upper 
outline of the animal when in motion resembles the sloping neck 
and back of the giraffe, but shorter. 

If no other objects had been obtained, the expedition would 
have been considered an immense success from the capture of this 
mysterious beast alone. It was a specimen all the scientific world 
had been seeking, and the ex-President was doubly happy that it 
fell to his lot to bring the first specimen to the hands of the world's 
naturalists. 

One of the giraffes was shot at a distance of four hundred 
yards and while galloping at full speed. Those in the party declared 
that it was the best shot Bwana Tumbo has yet made, not except- 
ing his feat when he dropped a charging rhinoceros bull when it 
was almost upon him. 




THE GIRAFFE — COL. ROOSEVELT KILLED A FINE SPECIMEN OF THI£ 
BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL AT A DISTANCE OF 400 YARDS. 



174* ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 

This beast, which had not hitherto been encountered, is another 
interesting one, well worth more than a brief description. 

Giraffes are not only the tallest of all animals but they are 
among the most beautiful. Although the neck is singularly long 
they are wonderfully graceful in shape and are marked more ele- 
gantly than any other creature known to man. The color of the 
coat is slightly different in the specimens which inhabit the northern 
and the southern portions of Africa, the southern animal being 
darker than its northern relative. 

The height of a full-grown giraffe is from eighteen to twenty 
feet, the female being somewhat less in her dimensions. The greater 
part of his enormous stature is obtained by the extraordinary long 
neck, which is nevertheless possessed of only seven vertebrae, as in 
ordinary animals. Those bones are, however, extremely elongated, 
and their articulation is admirably adapted to the purpose which 
they are called upon to fulfil. 

THE LEGS OF THE GIRAFFE ARE OF EQUAL LENGTH. 

The back of the giraffe slopes considerably from the shoul- 
ders to the tail, and at first sight the forelegs of the animal appear 
to be longer than the hinder limbs. The legs themselves are, how- 
ever, of equal length, and the elevation of the shoulders is due to 
the great elongation of shoulder-blades. 

Upon the head are two excrescences which resemble horns, and 
are properly called by that name. They are merely growths or 
developments of certain bones of the skull, somewhat similar to 
the bony cores on which the hollow horns of the oxen and antelopes 
are set. These quasi horns are covered with skin, and have on their 
summits a tuft of dark hair. On the forehead, and nearly between 
the eyes, a third bony projection is seen, occupying the same posi- 
tion that was traditionally accredited to the horn of the unicorn. 

The singular height of this animal is entirely in accordance 
with its habits and its mode of acquiring food. As the creature is 
accustomed to feed upon the leaves of trees, it must necessarily be 
of very considerable stature to be able to reach the leaves on which 
it browses, and must also be possessed of organs by means of which 



ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE *175 

it can select and gather such portions of the foliage as may suit its 
palate. The former object is gained by the great length of the neck 
and legs, and the latter by the wonderful development of the tongue, 
which is so marvellously formed that it is capable of a considerable 
amount of prehensile power, and can be elongated or contracted in 
a very wonderful manner. 

Large as is the animal, it can contract the tip of its tongue into 
so small a compass that it can pass into the small bowl of an ordi- 
nary pipe, while its prehensile powers enable its owner to pluck any 
selected leaf with perfect ease. In captivity the giraffe is rather 
apt to make too free a use of its tongue, such as twitching the arti- 
ficial flowers and foliage from ladies' bonnets, or any similar freak. 

UNFITTED FOR GRAZING ON LEVEL GROUND. 

For grazing upon level ground the giraffe is peculiarly unfitted, 
and never attempts that feat excepting when urged by hunger or 
some very pressing cause. It is, however, perfectly capable of 
bringing its mouth to the ground, although with considerable effort 
and straddling of the fore-legs. By placing a lump of sugar on the 
ground, the giraffe may be induced to lower its head to the earth, 
and to exhibit some of that curious mixture of grace and awkward- 
ness which characterizes this animal. 

In its native country its usual food consists of the leaves of a 
kind of acacia, named the kameel-dorn, or camel-thorn. The ani- 
mal is exceedingly fastidious in its appetite, and carefully rejects 
every thorn, scrupulously plucking only the freshest and greenest 
leaves. When supplied with cut grass, the giraffe takes each blade 
daintily between its lips, and nibbles gradually from the top to the 
stem, after the manner in which we eat asparagus. As soon as it 
has eaten the tender and green portion of the grass, it rejects the 
remainder as unfit for camelopardine consumption. Hay, carrots, 
onions, and different vegetables form its principal diet while it is 
kept in a state of captivity. 

The giraffe is a gentle and playful animal, readily attaching 
itself to its companions or its keepers, and trying to attract atten- 
tion by sundry little coquetries. It is full of curiosity, and seems 



*17« ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 

to be greatly gratified by the advent of many visitors, whose cos- 
tume and general appearance it investigates with an air of great 
interest. There is something peculiarly mild and pleasant in the 
full, round, dark eye of the giraffe, whose gaze is really fascinating 
to those who feel attracted by a mild and gentle expression of soul. 
Even the hunter has felt himself overcome by the glances of the 
giraffe's dark. expressive eye, as the poor animal lay unresistingly 
and silently on the ground, watching its destroyer with reproach- 
ful but not vengeful gaze. 

As far as known, the giraffe is a silent animal, like the eland 
and the kangaroo, and has never been heard to utter a sound, even 
when struggling in the agonies of death. When in its native land 
it is so strongly perfumed with the foliage on which it chiefly feeds, 
that it exhales a powerful odor, which is compared to the scent of a 
scent of a hive of heather honey. 

HEELS FOR SELF DEFENCE. 

Although an inoffensive and most gentle creature, it is not des- 
titute of aggressive capabilities, and can defend itself against ordi- 
nary foes, such as the predaceous carnivora which inhabit the same 
land. In defending itself it does not bring its head within reach of 
its enemy, but delivers a shower of kicks with such lightness and 
celerity, that it has been known even to daunt the lion from the 
attack. When, however, the lion can steal unobserved upon the 
giraffe, and especially when it unites with others of its own race 
in the pursuit of the huge prey, it brings down the giraffe by dint 
of sheer bodily strength and sharpness of tooth and claw. 

To man it falls an easy prey, especially if it can be kept upon 
level ground, where a horse can run without danger. On rough 
soil, however, the giraffe has by far the advantage, as it leaps 
easily over the various obstacles that lie in its way, and gets over 
the ground in a curiously agile manner. It is not a very swift ani- 
mal, as it can easily be overtaken by a horse of ordinary speed, and 
is frequently run down by native hunters on foot. 

When running, it progresses in a very awkward and almost 
ludicrous manner, by a series of frog-like leaps, its tail switching 



ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. *177 

and twisting about at regular intervals, and its long neck rocking 
stiffly up and down in a manner that irresistibly reminds the 
observer of those toy birds whose heads and tails perform alter- 
nate obeisances by the swinging of a weight below. As the tail is 
switched sharply hither and thither, the tuft of bristly hairs at the 
extremity makes a hissing sound as it passes through the air. 

The giraffe is easily traced by its " spoor," or footmarks, which 
are eleven inches in length, pointed at the toe and rounded at the 
heel. The pace at which the animal has gone is ascertained by the 
depth of the impression, and by the scattering of disturbed soil 
along the path. 

HAS A WIDE STRADDLE. 

The giraffe — which has been humorously described as "an 
antelope run to seed " — is fond of a wooded country. The leaves 
of trees are its principal food, and especially a species of mimosa. 
Green herbs are also very agreeable to it ; but its structure does not 
admit of its feeding on them in the same manner as our domestic 
animals, the ox or the horse. It is obliged to straddle widely; its 
two fore feet are gradually stretched widely apart from each other, 
and its neck, being bent in a semi-circular form, the giraffe is thus 
enabled to collect the grass. 

The tongue, also, has the power of motion to an extraordinary 
degree, and, at the same time, one of extension, so as to perform, 
in miniature, the office of an elephant's proboscis. Coiling this 
member round the branches of trees, it draws them down between 
its very movable and flexible lips, and thus nips off the tender por- 
tions. The tongue can taper to a point, and is capable of being 
formed into a ring. 

This remarkable animal is distinguished from all the other 
ruminants or cud-chewing animals, by several important character- 
istics. The body is short and supported upon very long legs; the 
dorsal line slopes downward toward the rump, the withers being 
greatly elevated, and from this it was long confidently asserted that 
the fore-legs were much longer than the hinder pair, although this 
is not the case. 

12— R. Ex, 



*178 ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 

When pursued its gallop is described as exceedingly ludicrous, 
the hind-legs being brought forward at each step completely in 
advance of the anterior ones, apparently a foot or two on the out- 
side of them; in this fashion the giraffes contrive to get over the 
ground pretty rapidly, with a curious, springing motion. A very 
swift horse may possibly overtake them, and the rider may then 
select his victim from the herd, cut it off from his companions, and 
.shoot it at his leisure. 

THE GIRAFFE IS A GREAT KICKER. 

When going at full speed the heels of the giraffe constantly 
throw up dirt, sticks and stones in the faces of its nearest pursuers, 
but it never appears to attempt to defend itself unless brought to 
bay ; in this case its weapons are its hoofs, with which it kicks out 
so rapidly and vigorously that dogs will not venture to attack it, 
and it is even said it can beat off the lion in the same manner. The 
flesh of these animals, when young, is considered very good; that 
of the old ones is coarse. The skin is very thick and highly valued 
by the natives of Africa, who consider the leather formed from it 
to be the best material for sandal soles. They also use the skin in 
the formation of vessels to hold water, and sometimes as a covering 
for their huts. 

Gumming gives us the following lively description of the 
giraffe, at liberty in his native regions : 

' These gigantic and exquisitely beautiful animals, which are 
admirably formed by nature to adorn the forest that clothe the 
boundless plains of the interior, are widely distributed throughout 
the interior of Africa, but are nowhere to be met with in great 
numbers. In countries unmolested by the intrusive foot of man, the 
giraffe is found generally in herds varying from twelve to sixteen ; 
but I have not unfrequently met with herds containing thirty indi- 
viduals, and on one occasion I counted forty together; this, how- 
ever, was owing to chance, and about sixteen may be reckoned as 
the average number of a herd. 

' These herds are composed of giraffes of various sizes, from 
the young giraffe of nine or ten feet in height, to the dark chest- 



ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 



*179 



nut-colored old bull of the herd, whose exalted head towers above 
his companions. Some writers have discovered ugliness and want 
of grace in the giraffe, but I consider that he is one of the most 




KEllMIT BROUGHT DOWN A BIG BULL GIRAFFE. 

strikingly beautiful animals in the creation; and when a herd of 
them is seen scattered through a grove of the picturesque parasol- 
topped acacias which adorn their native plains, and on whose upper- 



180* ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 

most shoots they are enabled to browse by the colossal height with 
which nature has so admirably endowed them, he must indeed be 
slow of conception who fails to discover both grace and dignity in 
all their movements. 

" It is very difficult, almost impossible, to take a mature giraffe 
alive; for they run with such speed and with a succession of such 
wonderful bounds, that the swiftest horses can scarcely overtake 
them. In order to capture them, the period when the young are 
suckling is selected, when, if the captor is fortunate enough to keep 
the youngster alive for a few days, it becomes quiet, and even tame ; 
but very often the poor captive refuses all nourishment, and dies." 

THE LION AND LEOPARD ITS CHIEF ENEMIES. 

The chief enemies of the giraffe are the lion and leopard. In 
the open plain it distances them with ease; but if it is surprised 
from ambush, it exhibits both courage and strength in resisting 
its assailant, striking with its forefeet with such force as to prove 
occasionally fatal to the foe; but too frequently its efforts are 
unavailing. The giraffe must number man also among its enemies. 
The Hottentots hold its flesh in high esteem. By lying in wait for 
it at a favorite feeding or watering-place they shoot it with poisoned 
arrows. The more frequent use of firearms in hunting this beauti- 
ful animal will certainly before long lead to a complete annihilation 
of these wonderful and docile creatures. 

The ancients were acquainted with the giraffe. In the Egyp- 
tian paintings or bas-reliefs which have been handed down to us, 
there are figures which represent it ; Pliny, Oppian, and Heliodorus 
also make mention of it. The Romans possessed living specimens 
of this animal, which they exhibited in their circuses, and it appeared 
in the procession of the " Triumph." 

In the giraffe, the three bony appendages, one medium and the 
other lateral, all covered with skin, instead of being produced as 
outgrowths from any portion of the skull, are separate and inde- 
pendent conical bony " process " which stand upon the skull, 
capping roughened conical prominences destined to support them. 
Neither are horns, like those of sheep or oxen, nor antlers like 



ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 



*181 



those of the deer, ever found upon these processes, a tuft of hair 
alone surmounting the lateral pair. 

As may be judged from the foregoing, the bagging of the 
giraffe was not a dangerous feat. Not so, however, the hunt for 
the buffalo. 

It is agreed upon all hands by experienced hunters in Africa 
that the buffalo is one of the three most dangerous four-footed foes 
that man can attack. Most men class this animal with elephants and 
lions, as game that requires the highest attributes of skill, courage 




PURSUING A GIRAFFE. 



and caution to bring to bag. As a matter of fact, it may be laid 
down that more deaths and dangerous accidents happen annually 
in Africa in hunting the buffalo than in the chase of any other spe- 
cies of heavy game. 

In regions where large numbers of these splendid beasts still 
wander, in troops of three hundred, four hundred and even more, 
and where they have been little disturbed, the hunter has no great 
difficulty in shooting as many as he requires. 

In fairly open country, where scattered covert exists, and 
where they can be readily approached — for they are by no means 



182* ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 

keen- sighted creatures — a man may, he begins to think, shoot buf- 
faloes as easily as he can shoot oxen. 

But, directly a buffalo is wounded and his blood-spoor has 
to be taken up, and the hunter has to follow him into the dense 
coverts to which he retreats, the business is entirely changed. Then 
you may prepare to look out for yourself, to take up your heaviest 
and most reliable weapon, and to follow the track of your game 
with every sense alert, and your rifle handy for an instant and most 
deadly charge. 

You will find, too, that the native spoorer, who trotted in front 
of you readily enough on the blood spoor of elephant, and even lion, 
will now greatly prefer to follow in your rear, and leave you to 
take upon your own person the first and dangerous risk in the dark 
and shadowy thickets into which you are advancing. He knows — 
none better — the dark, evil fury and the lurking, noiseless ways of 
the beast of which you are in search. 

MOST DANGEROUS GAME IN AFRICA. 

The buffalo, so soon as he is wounded, seems, indeed, to think 
of little else than a bloody revenge. Unlike most other game, which, 
when wounded, will almost invariably betake themselves in flight 
as far from the pursuer as possible, he usually retreats some dis- 
tance into the densest bush, and then either hides up in some dark 
corner, where the shadows are deep and deilse, or, turning upon 
his line, takes a parallel path back and so waits for his foe; or he 
will even follow back upon his own spoor and conceal himself. 

Sometimes he will stand lurking amid the dark thickets; at 
another time, if badly wounded, he will lie down; in either case pre- 
pared and determined to inflict a bloody revenge for the hurts 
under which he is smarting. 

Year after year fatal accidents happen in African buffalo hunt- 
ing, year after year men, if not killed outright, are terribly mauled; 
and until the buffalo is completely exterminated, he will be found 
as savage and as dangerous as the lion himself, and, withal, far 
more revengeful. 

The account of the hunt follows. 



184* ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. 

Before sun-up the party were again stirring. In less than two 
hours' time the natives had led the way to a broad, marshy lagoon, 
or " vlei," as the native-born whites call it, surrounded by drier 
ground, upon which grew bush, acacia trees, and a few tall palms. 
Part of this lagoon was shallow, open water, the remainder con- 
sists of a dense bed of tall reeds, which led to further swamps and 
lagoons beyond. 

The sight that met the American's eyes, as he and the natives 
crept cautiously towards the edge of the " vlei," and surveyed the 
scene from behind a screen of bush, was a wonderful one. In and 
about the " vlei " stood a troop of not less than two hundred buf- 
faloes, some rolling in the shallow, some drinking, some standing 
bellv-deep in water, dark and motionless. The buffalo birds (a 
species of starling-Buphaya Africana), those watchful allies of 
these animals and rhinoceroses, were flying hither and thither, many 
of them picking and feeding on the ticks and parasites which infest 
the buffalo. 

ATTACKED BY ENRAGED BUFFALO. 

A number of small white herons, too, were about the " vlei," 
some of which were also to be seen actually perching on the broad 
backs of the great game. In any case the stalk required caution, 
and, with these watchful " buffel-vogel " about, extreme care was, 
as the Colonel saw, essential. Concealed behind a thick mass of 
bush, to which he and the trackers had crept, the hunter waited 
patiently till the troop moved and a fair shot offered. 

At last several fat cows, for which he had been waiting, came, 
together with a tremendous old bull, within thirty yards. Selecting 
the best cow, the Colonel aimed behind the point of the shoulder, 
and brought her down. She fell instantly to the shot, struggled a 
little further, and soon lay dead. 

The American had hoped and expected to bring down another 
cow. His intentions were frustrated, however, by the bull, which 
charged upon the instant directly toward the rifle smoke. Within 
ten yards the Colonel, who was kneeling, fired again, hitting the 



ADVENTURES OF THE CHASE. *185 

grim beast in front of the chest, and turning it. Meanwhile at the 
sound of the firing the whole herd floundered out of the " vlei," 
and went off crashing through an angle of the reed beds and thence 
far into the bush. As they fled the hunter took aim at a retreating 
cow eighty yards off, and by a lucky shot, broke her back. She fell 
bellowing, and was quickly despatched. 

Leaving the natives to skin and cut up these carcasses, the ex- 
President now took up the pursuit of the wounded bull, which he 
had marked in his flight through a dense patch of reeds to the right 
of the lagoon. The beast had turned off alone, and the greatest 
care had to be taken in following it through such covert. But the 
Colonel w r as determined to finish off his task. As soon as the reeds 
were reached, the blood spoor was easily to be followed. 

The heavy bullet had evidently raked the lungs, the bull was 
bleeding freely, and large patches of crimson marked its path. The 
reeds were very tall — twelve or fourteen feet — and thick, and the 
spooring seemed so dangerous an operation that the native, who 
was carrying a second gun, fell behind, leaving his master to take 
the first risk. 

At every step — they were wading knee-deep in water — the 
hunters stopped to listen. They had not penetrated fifty yards 
through the avenue of broken reeds, afforded by the passing of the 
bull, when in an instant, and without warning, the beast was upon 
them. 

Death hovered above them for one brief instant. Then a per- 
fect shot put it beyond the possibility of doing damage, and a sec- 
ond bullet mercifully ended its career. 

That night a wild war dance was given, at Sir Alfred's sug- 
gestion, by the Somali servants, in honor of the distinguished 
visitors. 

But one member of the party did not see this fantastic revival 
of the days before the white man had conquerred the Dark Con- 
tinent. The missing one w r as Kermit, as will be detailed in the next 
chapter. 




CHAPTER XII. 

Kermit Lost All Night in Jungle — Wanders Forty Miles 
Through Impenetrable Gloom — Has to Dodge Native 
Camps — Roaring Beasts Do Not Daunt Him — Wild and 
Savage Country — Caught in Tropical Storm — Finally 
Finds Railway and Saeety. 

* ERMIT is not likely to forget his terrifying 
experiences on that memorable night until his 
dying day. Not that they terrified him at the 
time, for he is a lad of too bold a nature to 
give way until danger is past. The hardiest 
then are apt to break down. 

But an account of his wanderings is well 
worth a chapter in itself. 

The party was slowly wending its way back to camp when a 
herd of Harrisbucks crossed his path. Urged by some fatal im- 
pulse, he turned his pony aside and started in pursuit. The sun still 
was an hour high, but for the moment Kermit forgot that in the 
tropics there is practically no twilight and that darkness follows, 
seemingly, in an instant, once the sun has set. 

He followed the herd for some little distance before he realized 
that his pony, after its hard day's work, was far too tired to over- 
take the fleet-footed creatures. Then, with a sigh, he turned back 
to rejoin his companions. But he counted without his host. 

Scarcely had he given up the chase than darkness fell and 
Kermit was alone, absolutely alone, save for an already tired pony, 
in the heart of an African jungle. 

It was a situation to try the nerve of the stoutest-hearted man, 
yet the lad, resolutely keeping up his spirits, struck out in the direc- 
tion in which he figured the camp to lay. 

But alas! as so frequently is the case with a novice in the 

186* 









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188* KERMIT ROOSEVELT LOST IN THE JUNGLE. 

woods, he was soon completely turned around and in a few min- 
utes was hopelessly lost. 

From the jungle on all sides came the roar of wild beasts. The 
shrill cries of the night birds chilled his blood, the roar of a lion 
could be heard a little way off his track, while ever and anon the 
crashing of bushes all about him told of the presence of — what? 

EVERY MOMENT EXPECTED TO MEET A LION. 

Fearing that possibly he might meet with a lion or a leopard 
in that dark belt of tall trees, under whose impenetrable shade grew 
the dense thicket that formed such admirable coverts for the car- 
nivorous species, Kermit crept cautiously along, looking keenly into 
the deep dark dens, the entrances of which were revealed as he 
journeyed, expectant every moment to behold the reputed monarch 
of the brake and thicket bound upon him. He peered closely into 
every dark opening, fearing to see the deadly glitter of the great 
angry eyes, and the glowering menacing front of a lion. After 
an hour's trepidation he had encountered nothing, and accordingly 
waxed courageous, crept into one of these leafy, thorny caverns, 
and found himself shortly standing under a canopy of foliage that 
was held above his head fully a hundred feet by the shapely and 
towering stems of the royal mvule. Who can imagine the position ? 
A smooth lawn-like glade; a dense and awful growth of impene- 
trable jungle around him; those stately natural pillars — a glorious 
phalanx of royal trees, bearing at such sublime heights vivid green 
masses of foliage, through which no single star-ray penetrated, 
while at his feet babbled the primeval brook, over smooth pebbles, 
in soft tones befitting the terrible and awe-inspiring quiet of the 
scene. 

A deep darkness enveloped the forest, now and then streaked 
by blue lightning, and, whipped by a rising south-east wind, hail 
and rain came beating down, the hailstones as large as horse-beans. 
After continuing for half an hour, the hail gave place to a true 
deluge of rain, and until late in the night it still continued raining 
steadily. 




AN OPEN GLADE BY DAY, AN ALMOST IMPASSABLE MORASS ON A RAINY NIGHT, 



*189 



190* KERMIT ROOSEVELT LOST IN THE JUNGLE. 

Meanwhile the lad boldly continued his plunge into the recesses 
of the jungle. 

Try and imagine some of these dangers. Take a thick copse, 
dripping with rain; imagine this copse to be a mere undergrowth, 
nourished under the impenetrable shades of ancient trees, ranging 
from one hundred to one hundred and eighty feet high ; briers and 
thorns abundant; lazy creeks, meandering through the depths of 
the jungle, and sometimes a deep affluent of a great river. Imagine 
this forest and jungle in all stages of decay and growth — old trees 
falling, leaning perilously over, fallen prostrate; ants and insects 
of all kinds, sizes, and colors murmuring around; monkeys and 
chimpanzes above, queer noises of birds and animals, crashes in 
the jungle as troops of elephants rush away; possibly hostile sav- 
ages securely hidden behind some buttress or in some dark recess; 
strong brown-bodied aborigines with terribly sharp spears, stand- 
ing poised, still as dead stumps; rain pattering down on you; dark- 
ness almost palpable throughout the night; and then, if you will 
imagine such a forest extending for miles, you will have a fair idea 
of what Kermit underwent as he slipped, slid and stumbled along, 
now riding, now leading his tired pony, now stopping to regain his 
breath or to nurse his bruises and scratches. Alone ! 

A VERY TRYING SITUATION. 

And yet every instant fearing that some ferocious beast would 
bound from behind a copse and pounce upon him. Every bush 
held potential death from beast or venomous serpent. 

It was a situation to try a stouter heart than ever throbbed in 
the breast of a youth. Yet Kermit faced it as boldly as a boy could 
face danger. 

Ever and anon he would give a shrill cry in the hope of attract- 
ing help. But he soon tired of this. Besides the danger of thus 
attracting either savage enemies or even more savage beasts dawned 
upon him. 

Still he plunged on ! 

Once, towards midnight, his eyes were gladdened by the sight 
of a fire gleaming through the woods. 



KERMIT ROOSEVELT LOST IN THE JUNGLE. 



*191 



On approaching nearer, however, he discovered that it came 
from a Wakamba village, and while these natives are usually peace- 
ful, the lad only too fully realized that the savage who is peaceful 
in the face of a large and heavily armed escort may not be so well 
disposed toward a lonely lad, lost in the wilderness. 




AFRICAN HOUSES WITH THATCHED ROOFS. 

So carefully skirting the village, as he was again to skirt still 
another before morning, he plunged on, sometimes in the recesses 
of the thickest forest, sometimes in an open glade, occasionally in 
a bit of tree-free land. 

He breathed freer when a bit of open land was reached, but 
after a short distance was traversed a dense jungle was entered, 
the path serpentining in and out of it; again open tracts of grass 



192* KERMIT ROOSEVELT LOST IN THE JUNGLE. 

bleached white were passed, faintly showing in the dim star-light; 
now his way led through thickets of gums and thorns, producing 
an odor as rank as a stable; now through clumps of wide-spread- 
ing mimosa and colonies of baobab-trees across a country teeming 




EXTRAORDINARY FOREST GROWTHS IN AFRICA. 

with wild beasts, as the roars with which the jungle reverberated 
amply testified. 

Very characteristic of the country were the patches of prime- 
val forests through which Kermit struggled, at last almost panic- 



KERMIT ROOSEVELT LOST IN THE JUNGLE. 



'193 



stricken. The way became very damp, the forest being watered by 
running streams, and known by the name of galleries. The soil 
was unusually rich in springs of water, which kept up a perpetual 
overflow of the brooks; and while in places the rivers have to find 
their way across open lowlands where the volume of water soon 
diminishes, and is lost in the parched earth, the country here was 
like a well-filled sponge. The result of this abundant moisture is 




LATER KERMIT CAREFULLY SKIRTED ANOTHER VILLAGE. 

that the valleys and fissures of the earth through which the water 
flows, whether in the form of little brooks and streamlets, or of great 
rivers, were clothed with all the majesty of a tropical forest ; while 
an open park-like glade, the chief feature of which appears at the 
first glance to be the amazing size of its foliage, fills up the higher- 
lying spaces between the water courses and the galleries. All this 
was beautiful by day, but terrifying at night. 

The number of distinct types of trees, and the variety of forms 

13— R. Ex, 



194* KERMIT ROOSEVELT LOST IN THE JUNGLE. 

among the undergrowth, is very great. Trees with large trunks, 
whose height throws 'into the shade all the previously seen speci- 



A \\ 







mm 

wnmw I 



8' 




GIGANTIC BOABAB TREE. 

mens of the Nile flora, not excluding the palms of Egypt, are here 
found in serried ranks, without a break, and beneath their shelter 



KERMIT RQOSLYELl LOST IN THE JUNGLE *19S 

the less imposing platforms are arranged in terraces, now clothed 
in densest darkness. 

In the interior of these virgin forests, leafy corridors, rivaling 
the temple walls of Egypt, lie veiled in deep perpetual shadow, and 
are spanned by a triple roof of foliage, rising vault above vault. 
Seen from without, the galleries appear like an impenetrable wall 
of the densest leafage, while from within corridors of foliage open 
out in every direction beneath the columns of the tree stems, and 
are filled with the murmuring voice of springs and water-courses. 
But of this Kermit saw nothing but blackness. 

MAGNIFICENT FORESTS. 

The average height of the roof of leaves measures from 
seventy-five to ninety feet ; but very often these galleries, seen from 
without, by no means produce the imposing effect which is felt 
from within in looking up from the depth of the valley or the water- 
side ; because in many places the depression of land or water which 
makes up the gallery or tunnel-like character of the scene scarcely 
allows half of the forest to rise above the level ground, many gal- 
leries being entirely sunk in the depression. Great tree trunks, 
thickly overgrown with wild pepper, rise from the depths, and sup- 
port wide-spreading branches draped with lichens and mosses, 
above which towers the remarkably fine tree called the elephant's 
ear, which grows in rich abundance. 

In daylight all this might have appealed to the eye. At night, 
it confused and terrified the wanderer. 

Other tree stems, long since dead, serve as supports for colos- 
sal vines, and with their impenetrable festoons form bowers as 
large as houses, in which perpetual darkness reigns. At night, and 
alone, they seemed more terrible than ever. From the depths of 
the brushwood gleam flame-red blossoms, and rivalling them in 
splendor are seen tall shrubs bearing large orange bell flowers. In 
daylight the eyes may roam in every direction, and meet with noth- 
ing but this unbroken impenetrable greenery. There where the 
narrow pathways wind along, partly through and partly under the 
tangle of shrub and bush ascending the valley wall, bare roots of 




MONKEYS CHATTERED AT KERMIT FROM THE TREES. 



196* 



KERMIT ROOSEVELT LOST IN THE JUNGLE. *197 

trees form the supports which hold the loose friable earth together. 
Mouldering trunks, covered with thick mosses, are met with at 
every step, and make the advance through these waves of massive 
greenery anything but easy. What must it have been in the 
stygian darkness? The air is the heavy, humid atmosphere of 
green-houses. There prevails a constant moisture, produced by the 
breath of the woods itself, and which it is impossible to escape. 
But Kermit struggled on. 

Monkeys chattered at him from the trees, serpents rustled the 
bushes at his very feet, fiery eyes gleamed at him from the thickets, 
the shrill cries of the night birds chilled his blood, but still he kept 
on his way, undaunted. 

It was early dawn when finally he struck the railway line. Fol- 
lowing this for some miles he came to the tiny town of Kiu, forty 
miles from the camp near Machakos, where his father and com- 
panions were — forty miles through gloom and tangled jungle, with 
death in a thousand forms lurking at every step. 



ga&nm <bh& \ 




lriYl«Ui>« 



HERD OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS 



198* 



CHAPTER XIII. 




Roosevelt Slays Big Bull Elephant — Kermit Reaches Camp 
About Noon — Too Late for Much oe a Hunt — Pair oe 
Lemurs Killed — Wounded Lion Leads to Elephants — 
Roosevelt too Impulsive — Selous Warns Colonel — Shot 
from Tree — Baby Elephant Captured — About These 
Giant Beasts — On to Ju-Ja Ranch. 

jVERYONE'S anxiety was relieved, and the 
Colonel, of course, was overjoyed, about 
noon that day, when Kermit, tired and sad- 
dle-sore, rode into camp, but as it was too 
late then to do more than hunt small game 
in the neighborhood of the camp, only a few * 
minor animals were bagged, among them a 
couple of lemurs, an animal closely allied to 
the monkey tribe. 

The next day, however, Theodore Roosevelt killed his first 
elephant. It was a big " tusker," and the former President picked 
it out of a herd of about a dozen. 

A baby elephant about two months old was roped and taken 
alive, and it will go as a gift from Colonel Roosevelt to the New 
York Zoological Gardens. The little captive was taken to Nairobi 
by a band of natives and shipped down to Mombasa by rail. 

Colonel Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and F. C. Selous had a 
narrow escape from the elephant which fell a prize. The men were 
out before daybreak for lions near Machakos, and there had been 
no report of elephants in the district. They wounded a lion return- 
ing to its lair, and the animal led them on a chase of several miles. 
Selous advised against following the lion into a thicket, but 
Roosevelt went in, taking the lead, and at times moving on hands 
and knees, with his rifle stuck out in front of him. Selous insisted 

*199 




200 GROUP OF LEMURS, ALLIED WITH THE MONKEY TRIBE. 



A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT.' *201 

on following- close behind Colonel Roosevelt, Kermit bringing up 
the rear. 

Colonel Roosevelt reached a fringe of grass at an open spot, 
and instantly brought his rifle to his shoulder. Selous rose until he 
was almost standing upright, and saw that the former President 
was aiming at the leader in a herd of elephants. 

His whispered command came just in time to keep Colonel 
Roosevelt from firing at a range of about 20 feet. Selous insisted 
upon a retreat, and warned Colonel Roosevelt that to fire on the 
herd would be to invite death in a charge. 

SHOT FROM AMBUSH. 

Roosevelt reluctantly moved back along the trail, and followed 
Selous in a wide detour. The Englishman had marked down the 
herd. He kept safely to leeward, and finally directed Roosevelt 
and Kermit to climb a tree. All three men went into the branches, 
and were able to make out the backs of the elephants through the 
towering undergrowth. Roosevelt's elephant gun, firing explosive 
shells, was in the camp. Selous advised him in aiming and he sent 
half a dozen bullets into the " tusker." 

The elephant charged the fire, and went down on its knees 
close to the tree. Then at a distance of about forty feet Roosevelt 
struck the heart, and it went over dead. The rest of the herd tore 
wildly through the thicket in retreat, Kermit trying several shots, 
but without effect. 

The baby elephant was captured an hour afterward by the 
natives in Roosevelt's caravan. 

But the elephant is worth a bit of study before we accompany 
the happy hunters back to camp. The elephants are the largest of 
terrestrial animals, as the whales are the largest of aquatic animals. 
If size and strength conferred the right of dominion, these two crea- 
tures would be able to divide between them the empire of the world. 

The proportions of the elephant are clumsy, its body is thick 
and bulky, its gait heavy and awkward; but its face is imposing and 
noble. These giants of creation have a head which is remarkable 
for its enormous development of skull. Of all the lower animals, 



202* 



A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 



the elephant is the one whose head has the greatest vertical height 
in proportion to its horizontal length. 

However, the enormous rising produced at the upper, temporal, 
and posterior part of the skull, is not the result of great develop- 
ment of the brain; it arises simply from there being a quantity of 
broad cells, hollowed out in the substance of the bone. The volume 
of the brain is thus much inferior to that of the skull. 

On the lateral and upper portion of this enormous head are 
two immense thin ears, which extend upwards, backwards, and 
downwards. These the animal moves and flaps about at will ; they 




HUNTER ATTACKED BY A BULL ELEPHANT. 

also serve as a fan against the heat. The eye is small, for its globe 
is not a third of the size of the bull's eye, in comparison to the mag- 
nitude of the two animals. 

The mouth is also small, and almost entirely hidden behind the 
tusks and the base of the trunk. This trunk, an organ peculiar to 
the elephants, is merely the nose prolonged in an immoderate length, 
in the shape of a tube, and terminating in the openings of the nos- 
trils. This prodigious nasal organ performs the duties of arm and 



A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. *203 

hand. The elephant's trunk is, at the same time, an organ of touch, 
of smell, of prehension, and likewise a formidable weapon. In the 
ordinary actions of life, it is an instrument that performs all the 
functions of a hand. It seizes and picks up the smallest objects, as, 
for instance, a piece of money or a straw; it can uncork a bottle, 
or fire off a pistol. 

In the natural state, the elephant makes use of it for conveying 
food to its mouth; for lifting heavy weights, and putting them on 
its back; for drinking, by filling it with water, and then letting the 
water pour down its throat. With this instrument it defends itself, 
and attacks others ; it seizes its enemies, entwines them in its folds, 
squeezes them, crushes them, and tosses them into the air, or hurls 
them to the ground, afterwards to be trampled under its broad feet. 

THE TRUNK A VERY REMARKABLE ORGAN. 

The structure of this marvellous organ (the trunk) is very 
remarkable. It is a conical tube, of an irregular form, very elon- 
gated, truncated and funnel-shaped at the end. The upper side of 
this trunk is convex, and fluted along its breadth ; the lower side is 
flat. It is provided with two longitudinal rows of little eminences, 
which resemble the feet [or, rather, not the feet, but the pro-legs] 
of silkworms. 

The first portion of the trunk is situated at the point which 
forms the extremity of the nose in other animals ; it serves it in lieu 
of a nose, since the interior side serves as a lip, and the nostrils 
are placed within; in fact, this organ is hollow in the interior, and 
a partition divides it into two channels. 

At the point at which these channels or pipes touch the bony 
walls which terminate them, and which contain the organ of scent, 
they are provided with a little cartilaginous and elastic valve, which 
the animal can open and shut at will. This arrangement prevents 
the liquids used as drink from entering into the organ specially 
intended for the sense of smelling. 

Between the internal channels of the trunk and its external 
membrane are implanted numerous longitudinal, transversal, and 
radiating muscles, the contraction or dilation of which bring about 



204 * A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 

or cause the quickest, strongest, and most varied movements and 

inflections. 

The trunk is terminated in a concavity, in the indentation of 
which are the orifices of the nostrils. The upper part of the border 
is prolonged into a sort of finger, which is about five inches long. 
This extremity seizes hold of objects with so much delicacy, that 
it can pick up a grain of wheat. 




NATIVES OF AFRICA CAPTURING AN ELEPHANT. 



The elephant's tusks are nothing but the incisive teeth pro- 
digiously elongated. Turned obliquely downwards, forwards, out- 
wards, and ultimately upwards. They are sometimes more than 
two metres and a half in length, and weigh as many as from fifty 
to sixty kilogrammes. In the females they are sometimes very 
slightly elongated, and do not project beyond the lips. 

The tusks serve the elephant for defensive and offensive 



206* A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 

weapons. They protect the trunk, which curls up between them, 
when the animal traverses woods in which there are many thorns, 
prickles, and thick brushwood. The elephant also uses them for 
putting aside and holding down the branches, when, with its trunk, 
it is about to pluck off the tops of leafy boughs. 

The ivory, which is so much used in trade, and which is so 
remarkable for the fineness of its grain, whiteness, hardness, and 
for the beautiful polish that can be given to it, is principally obtained 
from the elephant. 

Elephant ivory is easily recognized by its peculiar structure. 
On the transverse section of it, one remarks streaks going in a circle, 
from the centre towards the circumference, and forming lozenges 
in crossing each other. 

IVORY IN DEMAND SINCE ANCIENT TIMES. 

Ivory has been employed by man as an ornament since the 
most ancient times. Solomon had a throne of ivory covered with 
gold, and the interiors of many opulent houses in Jerusalem were 
adorned with it. Homer speaks of ivory being employed as an 
object of ornament. The statue of the Olympian Jupiter, made by 
the Greek sculptor, * Phidias, was of ivory and gold. Ivory was, 
among the ancients, of a very great price ; and the elephant's tusks 
figured only in the most important public ceremonies. 

The elephant has no canine teeth. Its molar teeth are com- 
posed of a certain number of plates of a bony substance, covered 
with enamel, and bound together by a cortical or barky matter. 

The manner in which the teeth succeed each other in the ele- 
phant is well worthy of attention. In other mammalia, it is ver- 
tically that the second teeth succeed to the milk teeth. But in ele- 
phants they come forward from behind, in such a way that, as a 
molar is worn out, it is pushed forward by the one which is to 
replace it. The same molar can thus be replaced as many as eight 
times. The tusks, however, are only renewed once. 

The enormous head, the different parts of which we have just 
examined, joins on to a neck so short that its movements are very 
circumscribed and very difficult. The back is arched or bowed, and 



A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT, Hoi 

the rump depressed. The tail is short and thin. The fore legs have 
no collar-bone, and seem to be massive pillars placed under the body- 
to support its heavy mass. As with the hind legs also, their bones 
are placed in a position perpendicular to the body and to the ground, 
which gives the animal a clumsy and awkward appearance. 

The fore legs are moreover longer than the hind legs, which 
are very short, and of which the leg properly so called, and perhaps 
the knee, are alone disengaged from the body. Under the feet is 
a sort of callous sole, thick enough to prevent the hoofs from touch- 
ing the ground. The hoofs, to the number of from three to five, 
are shapeless, and do not even show the number of the toes (five 
on each foot), which remain encrusted and hidden under the skin. 

GENERALLY FOLLOW A LEADER. 

This shapeless, colossal, and heavy body is covered with a skin, 
callous, full of cracks and crevices, very thick, of a dirty blackish 
grey color, having a few hairs sprinkled over it here and there, and 
which are almost invisible, except on the back, on the eyelids, and 
on the tail, which is terminated by a tuft. Revelling in forests 
and swamps, they keep together in troops more or less numerous, 
which are either led by an old male, or very commonly by an old 
female. 

Well might Colonel Roosevelt have been elated at the unex- 
pected results of the day's hunt, for it now left him only the hippo- 
potamus, among the really big game, yet to conquer. 

It may well be supposed, therefore, that they rode back to 
camp, more than satisfied and ready, at last, for the trip to the 
famous Ju-Ja ranch, where the former President and his party were 
to be the guests of William McMillan, a nephew of former United 
States Senator McMillan, of Michigan. The Roosevelt party were 
to remain with Mr. McMillan for two weeks, hunting daily in the 
vicinity of the ranch. 

Years ago Mr. McMillan went to British East Africa in search 
of big game and was so well pleased with the country that he 
acquired an immense reservation for his private use. He has also 



208* A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 

led exploring expeditions that accomplished work of considerable 
importance. 

Mr. and Mrs. McMillan have a wide reputation for generous 
hospitality. She has shared life in Africa with her husband and 
delights in the experience. 

The McMillan farm gets its name from the Ju and Ja rivers, 
between which it lies. It covers 20,000 acres of land, and is about 
thirty-five miles from Nairobi, one of the largest towns of the 
plateau which is included in the British East Africa. It is fenced 
in on three sides by wire netting, while on the fourth the River Athi 
forms a sufficient protection to its boundaries. 

Immediately north of Ju-Ja, in majestic view from the veranda, 
Mount Kenia pushes its snow-cap nineteen thousand feet high 
across the exact line of the equator. Between the ranch and Mount 
Kenia lie the swells of the big game wilderness, which runs on in 
a northwesterly direction toward the great volcanic escarpment that 
shields Lake Victoria Nyanza. 

A MODERN HOUSE NEXT TO THE WILDERNESS. 

Ju-Ja House is one story high and of great extent, surrounded 
on all sides by a veranda. Hallways running across the house from 
every side give entrance to the rooms, which open through French 
windows upon the veranda. At one corner, looking out upon the 
plains and the mountains, is a kiosk where midday refreshment and 
afternoon tea are served. Each guest has his own Somali servant 
who responds to his call and attends to his needs. Conveniences 
abound which might well make one forget that he is next door to 
the wilderness. There is a telephone service connecting the house 
with every part of the farm. Electric lights are furnished from 
a power plant operated by turbine on the river, and there are storage 
batteries for a resource in case the dynamo " goes dead." An arti- 
ficial ice plant cools the atmosphere of the house and supplies plenty 
of ice for beverages. Pianos, talking machines, and the magazines 
are at hand. 

Thorough open house hospitality is the custom of a new coun- 
try. At Ju-Ja hunting parties help themselves, if they arrive in the 



*210 A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 

absence of the master. The house is like a hotel on the road to 
the great northern game fields, and the great sportsmen of the world 
are pretty sure to drift in there sooner or later. 

The temperature at this altitude of fifty-four hundred feet is 
agreeable throughout the year. Torrential rains for six weeks in 
the spring leave the air damp, but at other seasons the heat is dry. 
White men wear a pith helmet and covering for the neck as a pro- 
tection against the sun. The native carriers go bare-headed and 
smear their skin with a preparation of red earth and castor oil. 

Acres of gardens cover the hillsides that drop away to the river 
boundaries of the farm. Flowers that in this country blossom at 
different seasons bloom all together in the violet sunshine. The 
pansy, a spring flower in temperate climes, grows beside the fall 
chrysanthemum. Peas, potatoes, lettuce, and beets mature week 
after week the whole year round, according to the time of planting. 

PROHIBITS THE CAPTURE OF THE OSTRICH. 

The government is deeply interested in McMillan's experiments 
in the domestication of native animals. No other individual is so 
well equipped to attempt the work on a scale that will yield imme- 
diate results. When he first bought Ju-Ja, McMillan intended to 
raise ostriches, but the colonial government has since then pro- 
hibited the capture of the ostrich for breeding. 

The result of this restriction, which is severely criticised by 
the settlers, is that the birds lay their eggs anywhere on the open 
veldt, where they are eagerly sought by other game. This is the 
reason given by the settlers for the failure of the ostrich to multiply, 
as against the claim of the colonial office that confinement threatens 
them with extinction. The birds run wild, but when rounded up, 
driven into the corral, fed, and then liberated, they return for food 
and become easily domesticated. 

Many are the stories of the safari (hunt) that are told at Ju- 
Ja. Only two years ago two bosom friends who were hunting lions 
separated better to beat the game. The lion surprised one of the 
hunters and tore his body until it hung together by the sinews. 
When his friend found him, he saw that he was past all surgery. 



A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 



*211 



But the man's mind was alive, and he begged his comrade to end 
his sufferings. That friend found the courage to place his pistol to 
the sufferer's head and fire the shot that gave him release. 

McMillan is the son of the late William McMillan whose great 
estate holds the controlling interest in the American Car and Foun- 




NATIVES OF THE NILE REGION. 

dry Company of St. Louis and other investments that have largely 
increased a fortune of many millions. 

Like Roosevelt, young McMillan had his first experience with 
big game in the American West. Shooting from the hip at close 
range he learned in New Mexico, when as a fragile boy he was sent 
there to rough it on his father's ranch. He won health and hardi- 
hood hunting in the Rockies. McMillan is thirty-six years of age, 



212* A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 

six feet and three inches tall, and when in hunting trim, weighs two 
hundred and fifty pounds. 

Africa beckoned McMillan ten years ago while he was in 
Algiers. Learning of the opportunities for big sport in British 
Somaliland, he sailed down the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. At 
Berbera he equipped his hunting party of natives and soon found 
himself in the Singali Mountains among the antelope. In pursuit 
of lions the party wandered into the country of the Mad Mullah 
during the last outbreak of that fanatic, and only escaped capture 
by remaining in hiding for more than a week. 

WON THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE NATIVES. 

Hearing of a rare species of antelope in Abyssinia, McMillan 
sailed up the coast to a landing. Although warned of perils in the 
interior from hostile natives, he marched straight to Menelik's capi- 
tal, hunting on the way and winning the friendship of the natives 
by killing game for them. Menelik was pleased with the boldness 
and good nature of the young man. The monarch made him prom- 
ise to return, after giving him permission to explore the Blue Nile 
into Abyssinian territory. McMillan returned to Cairo by way of 
Suez. 

The expedition for the Blue Nile was fitted out at Cairo. Mrs. 
McMillan accompanied the expedition as far as the steamer got 
above Khartoum. She climbed the great cliffs leading from the 
Nile Valley to the vast tableland of Abyssinia, parted with the 
explorer, and descended the river to Khartoum to await him. 

Up to the point where the boats were brought into service, the 
river flowed broadly through heavy growth. As the string of 
boats entered a gorge, however, the stream contracted until, two 
hundred miles above Khartoum, the boats were broken in a series 
of rapids. 

The party retraced their route on foot, beset by every sort of 
hardship. None of them except McMillan were armed with guns. 
He killed all the game on which the Somalis subsisted. In shooting 
he was compelled to exercise rare sportsmanship to avoid killing the 
quarry— generally antelope and hippopotami — outright. The Mo- 



214* 



A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 



hammedan Somalis refused -to partake of meat slain by an infidel. 
As the beast fell, they would dash upon the wounded game, and 
" Allah " the prey — that is, slit the throat and mumble the Moham- 
medan prayer as the blood flowed. 

It was while engaged in this exploration that the French heard 
of McMillan and began diplomatic inquiries about his business. 
The feeling in France at the time was still so intense over the 
Marchand disaster at Fashoda, that McMillan's presence, then, on 
the Abyssinian waters of the Blue Nile, was regarded as a breach 




WAZARAMO VILLAGE. 

of the entente cordiale. The British embassy gave satisfactory 
assurances that the expedition was the private venture of a wealthy 
American. 

The effect of the exploration was to disabuse the British mind 
of attempting to divert the commerce of Abyssinia inland by way 
of the river to Cairo, thus wresting a great trade from the French 
protectorate on the coast. McMillan found that the river in Abys- 
sinia was not navigable. 

Four years ago, when McMillan entered the " wild strip," 
accompanied only by his Somalis, it was without firing a shot 



A FULL DAY'S SUCCESSFUL HUNT. *215 

against a savage in a region from which numerous expeditions had 
been turned back with records of resistance and massacre. All 
his friends had tried to dissuade him from an experiment in which 
several powerful expeditions had failed. But he was firm in his 
purpose to solve the enigma of the strip lying directly north of 
Uganda and forming the shortest route for the " Cape-to-Cairo " 
railway between all the British possessions in South Africa and 
those in the Soudan. 

A British expedition had been turned back into Uganda by 
the hostiies of savage tribes. An Italian expedition had been mas- 
sacred by the natives only a few years before McMillan started up 
the Nile from Cairo. Passing Fashoda where Marchand met his 
fate, the American entered the Sobat River at its mouth and floated 
into the territory. 

He traversed the entire strip, encountering a tribe of gigantic 
blacks, and returned through the same region after penetrating 
Masailand, now a part of British East Africa, and hunting around 
Lake Rudolph. With his usual good nature he placated the savages 
by shooting scores of lions, buffalo, and antelope as presents for 
the native chiefs. He learned from one of the most northerly tribes 
that the commander of the ill-fated Italian expedition had been 
taken a prisoner into this tribe, but was tracked there and mur- 
dered by natives of a southern tribe whose chief had been mis- 
treated by the expedition. 

McMillan found the country an easy one for the railway to 
penetrate, but filled with volcanic drift, making it unprofitable for 
agriculture. His expedition opened the " wild strip " and proved 
its adaptability for constructing the last link in Cecil Rhodes' dream 
of Cape-to-Cairo supremacy. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

At the Famous Ju-Ja Ranch — Thirty-Six Hours of Leisure 

— Exploring the Blue Nile — Game Furnished Wide 

Variety of Food — In thf Lion Country — Battling With 

i Hippopotami — Shooting Crocodiles — Natives Feast on 

Turtle — Review of Hunting Success. 



OLONEL ROOSEVELT'S first thirty-six 
iff hours at the world-famous Ju-Ja ranch 




were spent in quietly resting from the 
strenuous hunts while he was a guest at the 
ranch of Sir Alfred Pease, who, by the way, he 
had previously met while hunting big game in the 
Rockies. Added to these muscle-wearying and nerve-wrecking 
experiences, too, there had been the long and arduous journey 
across a broken country to Ju-Ja. 

Small wonder, then, that even so energetic a hunter as the 
former President should be content to sit quietly on the broad ver- 
anda of the McMillan house and listen to the experiences of as 
famous a band of big-game slayers as, probably, ever were gath- 
ered together. 

Many, too, were the local dignitaries who had journeyed from 
Mombasa, Nairobi and a score of lesser places to shake hands with 
the hero of San Juan hill and the man who had surpassed all pre- 
vious East African records as a lion slayer. 

A part of the day was spent in writing up his adventures to 
date and a few hours' wandering over the spacious game preserve 
with his host and Mr. Selous, whom, Colonel Roosevelt insisted, 
should still regard himself as a member of the party. The most 
of his time, however, was spent under the trees that shaded the 
McMillan bungalow, listening to talks of wild beasts slain and even 
more savage men conquered. 

21'P 



218* A LONG REST AND RECEPTION AT JU JA RANCH. 

One account he listened to with far more interest than most, 
inasmuch as it described a trip over country and amid scenes he 
soon was to traverse. 

It was told by one of two Frenchmen who lately had traversed 
the Blue Nile region. 

Here is, in substance, their remarkable experience: Having 
collected a caravan, consisting of twenty men and twenty-five 
camels for carrying baggage, food and apparatus, they started for 
the Blue Nile. There, having engaged extra porters and beaters 
and completed their store of provisions, they moved toward the 
valley of the Dinder river. 

GAME IN ABUNDANCE. 

Gradually they came into a more desolate region and the game 
began to appear. Gazelles put in an appearance, and then a large 
herd of antelopes came into view. The channel of the Dinder 
was entirely dry, save here and there pools in which fought hideous 
crocodiles and that were also the watering places of flocks of aquatic 
birds. 

The country between Abou, Hashim and Durraba is the favor- 
ite resort of leopards, which there run down the crowds of monkeys 
that inhabit the section. In the same place are numerous elephants. 

From this on there was plenty of variety in the food furnished 
the expedition. A guinea fowl, crocodile steak, a leg of antelope, 
roasted buffalo or broiled wild boar helped vary the menu provided 
from day to day. Ariels — a species of large gazelle which feed in 
bands of a hundred or more — were frequently met with. Then 
would come the bachmats, an antelope quite as big as a doe. The 
hoodoo was also a common animal, with twisted horns more than 
a yard long. Of these the hunters may only kill two. i 

Others that traversed the pathway of the expedition were the 
abouroofs and tetels, in shape like small horses and remarkably 
difficult of approach. 

The travelers had now arrived in the region of lions. The 
first night a lion's long roar was heard. The entire camp was awake 
in an instant. The lion was on his way to the river for a drink, 




*219 



220* A LONG REST AND RECEPTION AT JU JA RANCH. 

but the sight of the camp disconcerted him and, growling, he turned 
tail and fled. As a rule, this animal is very cunning and hard to 
surprise. 

The grunting of the hippopotamus as it browsed along the river 
also soon became a familiar sound. One night the noise these ani- 
mals made showed that they were abroad in great numbers. The 
following day the party started in search of them. Suddenly there 
w r as a violent commotion in the water. One after another three 
hippopotami thrust up their heads. They snorted like porpoises 
and splashed around joyously. A well-directed bullet struck one 
squarely in the forehead, and it sank, emitting a great jet of blood- 
stained water. 

Three or four hours afterward the vast body floated to the sur- 
face, to the great joy of the natives. What luck for them — food 
at least for a month and a skin to serve twenty useful purposes. 

OBJECT OF FRENZIED INTEREST. 

Utterly regardless of crocodiles, the whole band rushed into 
the water. They dragged to the shore the body, which became the 
object of frenzied interest. An hour, and it is cut into pieces. 
Some naked bones and a few fragments of flesh remained to tell 
the tale. 

The numerous animals killed had drawn many hyenas about 
the camp. The noise they make was very disagreeable. Like the 
lion, they disappeared at dawn. According to the natives, their 
place of refuge was a little mountain visible, about an hour's march 
away from the camp. 

It was visited by the hunters. Rocky and steep, it was marked 
all over by holes like those of a sponge, forming so many dens. As 
many hyenas could have been killed as the hunters chose if they 
had been worth killing. 

The hunting brought many surprises. One day while watch- 
ing for crocodile a small head like that of a serpent bobbed up. As 
often as it was fired at it simply dodged under, to appear again at 
another point in the stream. Finally one shot hit, and an enormous 



A LONG REST AND RECEPTION AT JU JA RANCH. *22l 

turtle floated on the surface. The natives made it the centre of a 
great feast. 

More variety was given the hunting by an immense boa caught 
in a wood. No lead was wasted on it. A dexterous throw of the 
lance nailed its head to the ground and other lance thrusts finished 
it. It measured twenty feet long. More material for a joyous 
native festival. 

Near the island of Omrouk, on the Dinder, there are certain 
marshes that even in the heat of summer are fresh and grassy. 
When the rest of the country dries up the larger ruminants resort 
there. In the early morning herds of buffalo may be seen feeding, 
but it is not wise to attack unless under special conditions. In 
this herbage, which is often eight feet high, it is almost impossible 
to move. 

DISCOVERED MARKS OF A BUFFALO. 

The hunters camped on the island. At dawn the shore was 
reached and marks of the buffalo discovered. On the way they 
climbed an ant hill about ten feet high as a post of observation. 
The sixth of a mile distant a herd of sixty head was seen feeding. 
Resting his gun on a branch, the hunter fired. A splendid male 
dropped. Indescribable confusion in the troupe. The females, 
fearful, called their little ones about them, the males stamping the 
ground vigorously. Suddenly a panic seized the herd and it fled at 
full speed. 

The hunter and his assistants now made their way to where 
the wounded buffalo was lying. Raising himself by a desperate 
effort, he charged on them. But his paw having been broken 
retarded his speed. The hunters hastily retired, when the buffalo 
turned and, with what speed he could, limped toward his late com- 
panions. 

Following his bloody tracks they found him further on 
exhausted, a second buffalo keeping him company. The hunters 
felt a measure of uneasiness. M. Machin, one of the hunters, had 
only three bullets left. Therefore no shooting must be done unless 
it told. At twenty paces the animals scented the men and set up a 



A LONG REST AND RECEPTION AT JU jA RANCH, 

tremendous bellowing". Two balls were fired into the unharmed 
beast and one into the other. 

Nothing more could be done in the darkness than return to 
camp and wait for morning. All rose at an early hour. They 
reached the spot where they had left the bodies. Imagine their sur- 
prise. The other buffalo was there, but the one wounded in the 
first place had absolutely disappeared. His tracks were followed, 
but he soon caught sight of his pursuers and fled. But fate was 
against him. Compelled to rest, a ball put him out of his misery 
for good. 

The elephant incident was less brilliant. A native came one 
morning to announce that in a clearing at some distance wandered 
a dozen elephants. M. Machin set out immediately with his blacks 
in the direction indicated. After weary hours of marching suddenly 
a heavy shadow broke across the trail they were following. It 
was caused by an immense elephant. Fixed solidly- on the earth, he 
faced the enemy, threw forward his long ears, brandished his trum- 
pet and with a strident bellow advanced. 

ELEPHANT ONLY STUNNED. 

It was no time to hesitate. Aiming at one of the little black 
eyes in the huge head, the hunter pulled the trigger. Fortunately 
his aim was good. The huge beast tumbled down like a falling tree. 
The rest of the band, hidden at some distance, began to trumpet 
and add wildly to the uproar. But the huge beast was not dead. 
The ball, too small, had only stunned him. His rage was something 
fearful — trees pulled up, shrubs torn up and tossed in the air, a 
crushing and roaring like the roll of thunder in the midst of the 
forest, a moment before so quiet. No courage could well prevail 
against such a cyclone, a hurricane of madness. It was not difficult 
to feel the chill of death in the presence of such a monster of 
strength and fury. The men retired in good order. 

Naturally, big game in Africa is not as plentiful now as it 
was a quarter of a century or more ago. In course of time the ele- 
phants, lions and other large beasts of the Dark Continent will 
probably be as scarce as the American buffalo. 



A LONG REST AND RECEPTION AT JU JA RANCH. *223 

Think of the game that fell before the gun of the original of 
Allan Quatermain during five months of 1874: Elephants, 14; 
rhinoceri, 9; hippopotamus, 1; buffaloes, 10; giraffes, 2; zebras, 7; 
lion, 1 ; eland, 1 ; wart-hogs, 4 ; other large animals, 24. During the 
three* years 1877- 1880 Mr. Selous killed 348 animals, including 
elephants, rhinoceri, buffaloes and antelopes. 

Another sportsman a few years ago brought down, within 




EXCITING CHASE OF THE WILD 'OSTRICH. 

four months, 197 animals, among them rhinoceri, hippopotami, 
lions, hartbeests and water bucks. Africa is undoubtedly the 
sportsman's paradise. 

In comparison with these exploits, the American had not done 
badly. No wonder he sat back and reviewed the past strenuous 
weeks with pleasure. 

Of the one hundred and one species of East African game 
Colonel Roosevelt had thus far bagged specimens of fifty. In 
order to make his collection complete it would be necessary for 
him to kill or take alive, as he did the okapi and several lion cubs, 



224* 



A LONG REST AND RECEPTION AT JU JA RANCH. 



ten species of quadrumana, which included monkeys, gorillas, 
baboons and mandrils. Of the carnivora Colonel Roosevelt had 
brought down several fine species, but he had yet to shoot a jackal, 
hyena, wolf, fox, caracal, civet cat, chaus, a species of lynx, and 
a herpeses, a prowling beast that destroys crocodile eggs. 



X 




Secretary bird. 

Of the ungulata species the former President had bagged a 
zebra, several buffaloes and antelope and giraffe. If he wanted to 
complete his specimens of this species he must try for the onager, 
or wild ass; the fleet-footed quagga, the single-humped camel and 
a wild horse. 

There were two specimens of the edentata species that Colonel 
Roosevelt must get. One of these was the aardwark, a species of 



A LONG REST AND RECEPTION AT JU JA RANCH. *225 

an ant eater. If he was going to include small game in his bag he 
would have to shoot a gilded mole, a hedge hog and a porcupine. 

Colonel Roosevelt was especially after feathered game, but 
if he should devote a part of the trip to this sport he would perhaps 
land an ostrich, a messenger or secretary bird and some water fowl 
of gay plumage. He had already cut the reptilian population of 
the jungle down by shooting some big snakes, but if he desired 
more of this kind of game there were yet for him the python, 
purple naja, the horned viper, the ringed naja and the darting 
viper, all of which are venomous. The crocodile, too, had thus far 
escaped the attention of Colonel Roosevelt. 

But, taken all in all, his record thus far truly was a wonderful 
one. 

15— R. Ex. 




CHAPTER XV. 

Bagging Big Game at Ju-Ja — Python Victim of ex-President's 
Prowess — Kermit Stays Leopard — Wounded Rhinoceros 
Puts Up Strong Fight — Kitted by Seventh Shot — 
Natives Christen Kermit Bwana Htoto or Littte 
Master — Calt Each Other by New Nicknames. 

URING his stay at the McMillan ranch Colonel 
Roosevelt had as strenuous a time as he had 
had even on the great hunt on Sir Alfred 
Pease's ranch. After his first brief period 
of rest every moment seemed fairly crowded 
with excitement. 

He and Kermit knew scarcely a dull 
moment. Their first bag included a waterbuck, an impalla and 
other varieties of antelopes. All the skins were being saved entire, 
and the expedition had now a total of sixty specimens, representing 
many different species. 

Kermit Roosevelt, on one trip, dispatched a leopard at a dis- 
tance of six paces. The animal already had mauled a beater, and 
was charging Kermit when he fired the fatal shot. 

A python of immense size was a victim of the father's prowess. 
Colonel Roosevelt got the biggest female rhinoceros killed in 
that vicinity in years, but only after he had taken his life in his 
hands to get the big game. 

He went out on McMillan's ranch from the camp on horse- 
back in search of hippopotami and while riding at full speed 
sighted the female rhino. 

He took a snapshot at it from the saddle, but his aim was high, 
and he only wounded it in the shoulder. The big animal took refuge 
in the bushes and the Colonel dismounted and crawled after it. 

He fired five shots without seeming effect, then it tried to 

226* 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. *227 

charge him. Dropping on one knee he took careful aim and 
bowled it over with his seventh shot. 

It was of exceptional size, the hide and head weighing four 
hundred pounds. They were sent to Nairobi to be cured with the 
other specimens. 

The porters nicknamed Kermit Roosevelt Bwana Htoto, or 
Little Master, and this made a hit with the Colonel, who as Bwana 
Tombo or portly master, had made a new shooting record. 

The father and son constantly used the native nicknames in 
addressing each other and managed to get much amusement out 
of it. 

Meantime a new source of anxiety had arisen elsewhere, though 
it disturbed the Roosevelts little, if at all. It was that a campaign 
had been begun against the Mad Mullah, with the suggestion that 
Theodore Roosevelt was incurring danger at the hands of the wild 
Somalis, who are the Mad Mullah's most dangerous followers. 

ON THE ALERT FOR TREACHERY. 

An impression prevailed in Mombasa that the former Presi- 
dent had better keep an eye open for these treacherous tribesmen, 
of whom several bands of from twenty to fifty each were lurking 
about the northern boundary of the Somaliland Protectorate. 
Their very presence in the neighborhood, said one report, was 
suspicious, for at the most they only had a ten days' journey from 
Nairobi. 

But, despite these rumors, the hunt continued, a great hippo- 
potami filling out the former President's bag of big beasts. 

Edmund Heller, the zoologist of the expedition, returned to 
camp that day after bringing about fifty specimen of animal and 
bird life to be cured and preserved. 

But the famous American was not yet satisfied. On the next 
day he started on the most hazardous hunt of his trip. He and 
Kermit and their party left the Ju-Ja ranch to bag another hippo- 
potamus. This time they decided to hunt the big game in the thick 
swamps where the hunters must hide perhaps for many hours before 
the chance to get a shot arises. 



228* SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. 

On the way to the lair of the " hippo " Colonel Roosevelt and 
Kermit shot two bull buffaloes. One, the bigger of the two, was 
brought down by Colonel Roosevelt alone, while the other was 
bagged by Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit together. 

The python killed by Colonel Roosevelt was the largest taken 
in British East Africa in many years. The former President and 
F. C. Selous, his guide, stumbled across the python at the edge of 
a swamp, where it was quietly making a meal of an antelope, horns 
and all. 

Roosevelt was more excited over the killing of the serpent, 
measuring twenty-three feet, than over his first lion, although 
there was slight danger to himself. The bullet that killed, how- 
ever, was one back from the head, which cut a vertebra. 

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AN ANIMAL OF GREAT INTEREST. 

When not occupied in searching for specimens or writing he 
spent his time practicing shooting. When particularly delighted 
with the result of his day's hunting he spent the evening at the 
campnre, pointing out how East Africa could be made a great 
countrv. 

But the slaying of the great hippopotamus cannot be dismissed 
in a sentence. Indeed, this great beast is too interesting a subject 
to let mention of it pass without a closer investigation of its char- 
acter and habits. 

This enormous quadruped is a native of various parts of 
Africa, and is always found either in water or in its near vicinity. 
In absolute height it is not very remarkable, as its legs are ex- 
tremely short, but the actual bulk of its body is very great indeed. 
The average height of a full-grown hippopotamus is about five feet. 
Its naked skin is dark brown, curiously marked with innumerable 
lines like those on " crackle " china or old oil-paintings, and is also 
dappled with a number of sooty black spots, which cannot be seen 
except on r a 'close inspection. 

A vast number of pores penetrate the skin, and exude a thick, 
oily liquid, which effectually seems to protect the animal from the 
injurious effects of the water in which it is so constantly immersed. 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. 



*229 



The mouth is enormous and its size is greatly increased by the odd 
manner in which the jaw is set in the head. 

Within the mouth is an array of white, gleaming tusks, which 
have a terrific appearance, but are solely intended for cutting grass 






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and other vegetable substances and are seldom employed as weapons 
of offence, except when the animal is wounded or otherwise irri- 
tated. The entire tooth, when it has been removed from the 
animal and thoroughly dried, is covered with a series of fine, super- 



230* SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. 

iicial cracks, which intersect each other diagonally with much regu- 
larity, being a veritable example of nature's " cross-hatching." 

The tooth is very solid in its substance and close in its grain, 
and as it retains its color under very trying circumstances, is ad- 
mirably adapted for the manufacture of artificial teeth. Through- 
out, the greater part of its length it is quite solid, but bears a conical 
hollow about three or four inches deep at the extremity which enters 
the socket. 

The extreme whiteness of the ivory obtained from the hippopo- 
tamus' teeth renders it peculiarly valuable for the delicate scales of 
various philosophical instruments, and its natural curve adapts it 
admirably for the verniers of ship sextants. The weight of a large 
tooth is from five to eight pounds, and the value of the ivory is from 
four to five dollars a pound. 

With these apparently combined teeth the hippopotamus can 
cut the grass as neatly as if it were mown with a scythe, and is able 
to sever, as if with shears, a tolerably stout and thick stem. 

ITS ENORMOUS APPETITE. 

Possessed of an enormous appetite, having a stomach that is 
capable of containing five or six bushels of nutriment, and furnished 
with such powerful instruments, the hippopotamus is a terrible 
nuisance to the owners of cultivated lands that happen to be near 
the river in which the animal has taken up his abode. During the 
day it is comfortably asleep in its chosen hiding-place, but as soon 
as the shades of night deepen, the hippopotamus issues from its 
den, and treading its way into the cultivated lands, makes sad de- 
vastation among the growing crops. 

Were the mischief confined to the amount which is eaten by 
the voracious brute, it would be bad enough, but the worst of the 
matter is, that the hippopotamus damages more than it eats by the 
clumsy manner of its progress. The body is so large and heavy, 
and the legs are so short, that the animal is forced to make a 
double track as he walks, and in the grass-grown plain can be 
readily traced by the peculiar character of the track. It may 
therefore be easily imagined that when a number of these hungry, 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. *231 

awkward, waddling, splay-footed beasts come blundering among 
the standing crops, trampling and devouring indiscriminately, they 
will do no slight damage before they think fit to retire. 

The hippopotamus is, as the import of its name, River Horse, 
implies, most aquatic in its habits. It generally prefers fresh 
water, but it is not at all averse to the sea, and will sometimes prefer 
salt water to fresh. It is an admirable swimmer and diver, and is 
able to remain below the surface for a considerable length of time. 

In common with the elephant, it possesses the power of sinking 
at will, which is the more extraordinary when the huge size of the 
animal is taken into consideration. Perhaps it may be enabled to 
contract itself by an exertion of the muscles whenever it desires to 
sink, and to return to its former dimensions when it wishes to 
return to the surface. It mostly affects the stillest reaches of the 
river, as it is less exposed to the current, and not so liable to be 
swept down the stream while asleep. 

IS CAREFUL OF ITS YOUNG. 

The young hippopotamus is not able to bear submersion so 
long as its parent, and is therefore carefully brought to the surface 
at short intervals for the purpose of breathing. During the first 
few months of the little animal's life, it takes its stand on its 
mother's neck, and is borne by her above or through the water as 
experience may dictate or necessity require. 

There are various modes of hunting this mischievous but valu- 
able animal, each of which is in vogue in its own peculiar region. 
The pitfalls are universal throughout the whole hippopotamus 
country, and lure many an animal to its destruction without needing 
any care or superintendence on the part of the men who set the 
snare. 

There is also the " down-fall,'' a trap which consists of a log of 
wood, weighted heavily at one end, to which extremity is loosely 
fixed a spear-head, well treated with poison. This terrible log is 
suspended over some hippopotamus path, and is kept in its place by 
a slight cord which crosses the path and is connected with a catch 
or trigger. As soon as the animal presses the cord, the catch is 




232* 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. *233 

liberated, and down comes the armed log, striking the poisoned 
spear deep into the poor beast's back, and speedily killing it by the 
poison, if not from the immediate effects of the wound. 

The white hunter of course employs his rifle and finds that the 
huge animal affords no easy mark, as unless it is hit in a mortal spot 
it dives below the surface and makes good its escape. Mortal spots, 
moreover, are not easy to find, or when found, to hit ; for the animal 
soon gets cunning after it has been alarmed, and remains deeply 
immersed in the water as long as it is able, and when it at last comes 
to the surface to breathe, it only just pushes its nostrils above the 
surface, takes in the required amount of air, and sinks back again 
to the river bed. 

ITS PRECAUTION IN THE HOUR OF DANGER. 

Moreover, it will often be so extremely wary, that it will not 
protrude even its mouth in the open water, and looks out for some 
reeds or floating substances which may cover its movements while 
breathing. As a general rule; it is found that the most deadly 
wound that can be given to a hippopotamus is on the nose, for the 
animal is then unable to remain below the surface, and consequently 
presents an easy mark to the hunter. A heavy ball just below the 
shoulder always gives a mortal wound, and in default of such a 
mark being presented, the eye or ear is a good place to aim at. 

The most exciting manner of hunting the hippopotamus is by 
fairly chasing and harpooning it, as if it were a whale or a walrus. 
This mode of sport is described very vividly by Mr. Anderson. 

The harpoon is a very ingenious instrument, being composed 
of two portions, a shaft measuring three or four inches in thickness 
and ten or twelve feet in length, and a barbed iron point, which fits 
loosely into a socket in the head of the shaft, and is connected with 
it by means of a rope composed of a number of separate strands. 
This peculiar rope is employed to prevent the animal from severing 
it, which he would soon manage were it to be composed of a single 
strand. To the other end of the shaft a strong line is fastened, and 
to the other end of the line a float or buoy is attached. As this 
composite harpoon is very weighty it is not thrown at the animal, 



Ell"" ■"" iT Up., 1 i T 



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*234 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. • 235» 

but is urged by the force of the harpooner's arm. The manner of 
employing it shall be told in Mr. Anderson's own words : 

" As soon as the position of the hippopotami is ascertained, 
one or more of the most skillful and intrepid of the hunters stand 
prepared with the harpoons; whilst the rest make ready to launch 
the canoes, should the attack prove successful. The bustle and 
noise caused by these preparations gradually subside. Conversa- 
tion is carried on in a whisper, and every one is on the alert. The 
snorting and plunging become every moment more distinct; but a 
bend in the stream still hides the animals from view. The angle 
being passed, several dark objects are seen floating listlessly on the 
water, looking more like the crests of sunken rocks than living 
creatures. 

ITS PURSUIT AND CAPTURE BY NATIVES. 

" Ever and anon, one or other of the shapeless masses is sub- 
merged, but soon again makes its appearance on the surface. On, 
on, glides the raft with its sable crew, who are now worked up to 
the highest state of excitement. At last, the raft is in the midst of 
the herd, who appear quite unconscious of danger. Presently one 
of the animals is in immediate contact with the raft. Now is the 
critical moment. The foremost harpooner raises himself to his full 
height, to give the greater force to the blow, and the next instant 
the fatal iron descends with unerring accuracy in the body of the 
hippopotamus. 

" The wounded animal plunges violently, and dives to the 
bottom ; but all his efforts to escape are unavailing. The line or the 
shaft of the harpoon may break; but the cruel barb once imbedded 
in the flesh, the weapon (owing to the toughness and thickness of 
the beast's hide) cannot be withdrawn. 

"As soon as the hippopotamus is struck, one or more of the men 
launch a canoe from off the raft, and hasten to the shore with the 
harpoon-line, and take a round turn with it about a tree, or bunch 
of reeds, so that the animal may either be ' brought up ' at once, or, 
should there be too great a strain on the line, 'played ' (to liken 
small things to great) in the same manner as the salmon by the 



236* SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. 

fisherman. But if time should not admit of the line being passed 
round a tree, or the like, both line and ' buoy ' are thrown into the 
water, and the animal goes wherever he chooses. 

" The rest of the canoes are now all launched from off the raft, 
and chase is given to the poor brute, who, so soon as he comes to the 
surface to breathe, is saluted with a shower of light javelins. 
Again he descends, his track deeply crimsoned with gore. Pre- 
sently — and perhaps at some little distance — he once more appears 
on the surface, when, as before, missiles of all kinds are hurled at 
his devoted head. 

" When thus beset, the infuriated beast not unfrequently turns 
upon his assailants, and either with his formidable tusks, or with a 
blow from his enormous head, staves in or capsizes the canoes. At 
times, indeed, not satisfied with wreaking his vengeance on the 
craft, he will attack one or other of the crew, and with a single 
grasp of his liorrid jaws either terribly mutilates the poor fellow, 
or, it may be, cuts his body fairly in two. 

IT IS FINALLY LANDED. 

" The chase often lasts a considerable time. So long as the 
line and the harpoon hold, the animal cannot escape, because the 
' buoy ' always marks his whereabout. At length, from loss of 
blood or exhaustion, Behemoth succumbs to his pursuers and is then 
dragged ashore." 

A hippopotamus which had been touched accidentally by a boat 
has turned upon it and torn out several of the planks, so that it was 
with difficulty the crew got to shore. A hippopotamus has also 
been known to kill some cattle which were tied up near his haunts, 
without the slightest provocation. 

Mr. Harris gives the following account of the habits of the 
hippopotamus : " This animal abounds in the Limpopo, dividing the 
empire with its amphibious neighbor the crocodile. Throughout the 
night the unwieldy monsters might be heard snorting and blowing 
during their acquatic gambols, and we not unfrequently detected 
them in the act of sallying from their reed-grown coverts, to graze 
by the serene light of the moon: never, however, venturing to any 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. *237 

distance from the river, the stronghold to which they betake them- 
selves on the smallest alarm. 

" Occasionally during the day, they were to be seen basking on 
the shore, amid ooze and mud ; but shots were most constantly to be 
had at their uncouth heads, when protruded from the water to draw 
breath; and if killed, the body rose to the surface. Vulnerable 
only behind the ear, however, or the eye, which is placed in a promi- 
nence, so as to resemble the garret window of a Dutch house, they 
require the perfection of rifle practice, and after a few shots become 
exceedingly shy, exhibiting the snout only, and as instantly with- 
drawing it. 

'' The flesh is delicious, resembling pork in flavor, and abound- 
ing in fat, which in the colony is deservedly esteemed the greatest 
of delicacies. The hide is upward of an inch and a half in thick- 
ness, and being scarcely flexible, may be dragged from the ribs like 
planks from the ship's side." 

HOW ITS TRACK IS DISTINGUISHABLE. 

Cumming says that the track of the hippopotamus may be dis- 
tinguished from any other animal by a line of unbroken herbage 
which is left between the marks of the feet of each side, as the 
width of the space between the right and left legs causes the animal 
to place its feet so considerably apart as to make a distinct double 
track. It may be remarked that the hippopotamus, as well as the 
elephant and rhinoceros, is fast disappearing in all the countries 
where it exists, before the incessant and destructive war made upon 
it by firearms. It could resist, and for ages did resist, the rude and 
ineffective weapons of savages and barbarians, living and multiply- 
ing in spite of them ; but the species must soon yield to the destruc- 
tive propensity and power of civilized men. 

After seeing the animal plunging about in his bath, diving 
with ease, and traversing the bottom of the tank as if it were dry 
land, one can the better appreciate the difficulties attending a 
struggle such as is related by Cumming in the following lines : 

" There were four of them, three cows and an old bull. They 



238* 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. 



stood in the middle of the river, and, although alarmed, did not 
appear aware of the extent of the impending danger. 

" I took the sea-cow next me, and with my first ball I gave her 
a mortal wound, knocking loose a great plate on the top of her skull. 




HIPPOPOTAMUS IN ITS NATIVE HAUNTS. 

She at once commenced plunging round and round, and occasionally 
remained still, sitting for a few moments on the same spot. On 
hearing the report of my rifle, two of the others took up stream, and 
the fourth dashed down the river. They rolled along like oxen, at 
a smart pace, as long as the water was shallow. 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. *239 

" I was now in a state of great anxiety about my wounded sea- 
cow, for I feared she would get down into deep water, and be lost, 
like the last one. Her struggles were still bearing her down stream, 
and the water was becoming deeper. To settle the matter, I accord- 
ingly fired another shot from the bank, which, entering the roof of 
her skull, passed out through her eye. She then kept continually 
splashing round and round in a circle in the middle of the river. 

" I had great fear of the crocodiles, and I did not know that 
the sea-cow might not attack me; my anxiety to secure her, how- 
ever, overcame all hesitation. So divesting myself of my leathers, 
and armed with a sharp knife, I dashed into the river, which at first 
took me up to my arm-pits, but in the middle was shallower. 

HER THREATENING ASPECT. 

" As I approached Behemoth, her eye looked very wicked at 
me, but she was stunned, and did not know what she was doing ; so 
running in upon her, and seizing her short tail, I attempted to 
incline her course to land. It was extraordinary what enormous 
strength she still had in the water. I could not guide her in the 
least, and she continued to splash, and plunge, and blow, and make 
her circular course, carrying me along with her as if I was a fly 
on her tail. 

" Finding her tail gave me but a poor hold, as the only means 
of securing my prey, I took out my knife, and cutting two deep 
parallel incisions through the skin on her rump, and lifting this 
skin from the flesh, so that I could get in my two hands, I made use 
of this as a handle, and after some desperate hard work, sometimes 
pushing, sometimes pulling, the sea-cow continuing her circular 
course all the time, and I holding on her rump like grim death, 
eventually I succeeded in bringing this gigantic and most powerful 
animal to the bank. 

" Here the Bushman quickly brought me a stout buffalo-rein 
from my horse's neck, which I passed through the opening in the 
thick skin, and moored Behemoth to a tree. I then took my rifle, 
and sent a shot through her head, and she was numbered with the 
dead." 



SUCCESSFUL BAGGING OF BIG GAME. *241 

In explanation of one part of this description, the difficulty 
experienced by Mr. dimming in holding by her tail will be easily 
understood by those who have examined the member in question. 
The tail of the hippopotamus is a flattened, naked affair, about two 
feet long, as thick as a man's wrist, and slightly fringed at the 
extremity with a few long bristles. If we imagine this tail flung 
about in the death-agony of a full-grown hippopotamus, it will not 
be difficult to conceive the almost impossibility of holding on by the 
hands, especially in the water, which is the natural element of the 
brute. 

Lander relates a thrilling experience that befell some of his 
companions on one of their explorations. A hippopotamus hap- 
pened to rise under their boat, and struck her back against its keel. 
Irritated by the unexpected resistance, she dashed at the boat with 
open jaws, seized the side between her teeth, and tore out seven 
planks. She then sank for a few seconds, but immediately resumed 
the attack, and if one of the crew had not fired a musket in her face, 
would probably have worked still more harm. 

As it was, too much mischief had been already done, for the 
loss of so much planking had caused the boat to fill rapidly, and it 
was only by severe exertion that the crew succeeded in getting the 
boat to shore before it sank. The boat was providentially not more 
than an oar's length from the bank when the attack took place ; but 
had it been in the centre of the river, few, if any of the crew, would 
have escaped to tell the tale. 

The shock from beneath was so violent, that the steersman was 
thrown completely out of the boat into the water, but was seized and 
drawn in again before the hippopotamus could get at him. 

16— R. Ex. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

Roosevelt Resumes March — Another Buffalo Falls — Kermit 
Slays Big Bull Wildebeeste — Over Four Hundred Speci- 
mens — Guest of Lieutenant Governor — Given a Recep- 
tion — Naturalists Busy Preparing Specimens — Visits 
African Mission — Former President's Impressive Ad- 
dress. 

ife* 

ET the days pass never so pleasantly, yet 
all visits finally must come to an end. 
So, after one of the happiest and most 
successful hunts he yet had experienced/ 
the former President and his party moved on to Nairobi, 
""* the capital of British East Africa. 

All were sunburned by the tropical blaze and in the best of 
health and spirits. In the last hunting Colonel Roosevelt bagged 
another buffalo, and a big bull wildebeeste fell before the rifle of 
his son, Kermit. 

The naturalists of the expedition had collected two pythons 
and four hundred odd birds and mammals. They were especially 
delighted with some unexpected specimens. 

For the next two days Colonel Roosevelt was the guest of F. 
J. Jackson, acting Governor of the Protectorate. For the remainder 
of his stay he occupied George McMillan's town house, loaned for 
the occasion. The party left the next week for the Sotik district, 
via Rijabe, not to return before the end of July. A public banquet 
was tendered Colonel Roosevelt in Nairobi about the first of August. 
Governor Jackson promptly issued invitations to a reception 
to meet Colonel Roosevelt and he entertained the former President 
of the United States at dinner. After this dinner Colonel Roosevelt 
attended an amateur theatrical entertainment. 

242* 



ON THE MARCH AGAIN TO NAIROBI. 



*24c 



The result of the expedition's hunting trips had been assembled. 
Colonel Roosevelt secured eighty-six specimens of game of many 
different varieties; with the exception of six specimens they were 
all for the National Museum at Washington. The naturalists of 
the party obtained about one thousand specimens of birds, mammals 
and snakes. 

The naturalists of the expedition were engaged in packing up 




NARROW ESCAPE FROM A WILD BUFFALO. 



the specimens already secured, to be shipped out on the next steam- 
ship. 

But finally, after one continuous round of that kind of gayety 
a British provincial capital affords, the party again got under way, 
this time moving on to Kijabe, taking special train and camping near 
the railway station. 

R. J. Cuninghame, the manager of the expedition, and L. A. 
Tarlton, of Nairobi, stayed at camp completing the preparations to 
start on the trip into the Sotik country. To reach this territory the 



244* ON THE MARCH AGAIN TO NAIROBI. 

party was destined to travel two whole days without meeting 
water. 

Kijabe is forty-four miles from Nairobi, in a northwesterly 
direction. The country between Nairobi and Kijabe is for the most 
part thickly wooded and high. The greatest elevation of the Kikuyu 
Escarpment is 7,832 feet. 

The Sotik district is in the southern part of Kisuru province 
and consists, broadly speaking, of a series of meadows with numer- 
ous streams and strips of forests. The district is about seventy-five 
miles east of Lake Victoria Nyanza. The Kisii people inhabit this 
territory, but they are little known to Europeans. They are brave 
and warlike, amiable, intelligent and good cultivators of the soil. 

COL. ROOSEVELT VISITS THE AFRICAN INLAND MISSION. 

Ex-President Roosevelt and party the next day visited the local 
station of the African Inland Mission, an American organization. 
Colonel Roosevelt made a thorough inspection of the institution 
and afterwards had luncheon with forty of the missionaries and 
their wives and settlers in the country. The Rev. Mr. Hurlburt, 
in a speech, welcomed Colonel Roosevelt to the mission. 

In replying the former President expressed his pleasure in 
being able to see the Africa Inland Mission and recalled the fact 
that his visit was the fulfillment of a promise made to Mr. Hurlburt 
at Washington some time ago, when the missionary was introducing 
to Colonel Roosevelt, at the White House, the delegates of a Chris- 
tian organization. 

" I am glad to have seen the work personally," Colonel Roose- 
velt continued. " I am pleased to see the settlers and to find you 
working together, as it would be no credit to the missionary, the 
settler or the official to do otherwise. I have a peculiar feeling for 
the settlers working in this new country, as they remind me of my 
own people working in the Western States, where they know no 
difference between Easterner, Westerner, Northerner or Southerner 
and pay no heed to creed or birthplace. 

" There is ample work to be done and all had best work shoulder 
to shoulder. I believe with all my heart that large parts of East 



ON THE MARCH AGAIN TO NAIROBI. *245 

Africa will form the white man's country. Make every effort to 
build up a prosperous and numerous population. Hence I am 
asking the settlers to co-operate with the missionaries and treat the 
native justly and bring him to a higher level. 

" I particularly appreciate the way your interdenominational 
industrial mission is striving to teach the African to help himself by 
industrial education, which is a prerequisite to his permanent eleva- 
tion. It seems to me that you are doing your work in a spirit of 
disinterested devotion to an ideal." 

That morning Colonel Roosevelt spent some time shooting 
monkeys, particularly the Colobus. Edmund Heller bagged three 
of the Colobus species and a green-faced monkey and Kermit 
Roosevelt killed two large specimens of the former. 

FIGHTING IN THE DARK. 

Colonel Roosevelt's visit to the Mission showed him that the 
heroes of the Dark Continent are not all mighty hunters and ex- 
plorers. The hardest fight that is waged for the opening of the 
continent is not a fight in the open with wild beasts or howling- 
savages while the world looks on and applauds. Rather it is a 
grappling in the dark with shadows, the shadows of spiritual gloom 
that loom so black and yet are so elusive to the grasp. It is a fight 
for the spread of light in dark places waged by men and women 
unused to physical hardships and with a breeding that renders them 
peculiarly sensitive to the spiritual wear and tear of their work. 
It is a fight without fanfare, without an audience, and too often 
without immediate results. 

The missionaries long had felt that in the same way as the 
President's declamations against race suicide unquestionably have 
helped domestic life, so perhaps he can throw some light on a phase 
of civilizing work peculiarly misunderstood by the majority of white 
people at home and abroad. 

It requires no great stretch of the imagination to get a vision 
of the President preaching a common-sense religion to a black audi- 
ence, just as he has preached domesticity, fearlessness, strenuous- 
riess'and a great many kindred virtues to the people in America. 



246* ON THE MARCH AGAIN TO NAIROBI. 

But it requires an intimate knowledge of the African character, its 
keen sense of authority and position, its veneration for " big chiefs " 
of whatever country, to gauge the tremendous influence his words 
would carry. That was the feeling of the missionary element, who 
hoped that Colonel Roosevelt would take the largest possible interest 
and even part in their work. 

Missionaries have opened the country to white men, and the 
chief highways penetrating the African continent still are called 
" missionary roads." When Livingstone's house was sacked, his 
books torn and scattered to the winds and his medicine bottles broken 
in revenge for his championship of the natives against the aggres- 
sions of the border ruffians, this disaster was the impetus that drove 
him to his real work as an explorer. 

No one ever has accomplished more with fewer resources. To 
the last he remained always the missionary, traveling among the 
natives as one who sought only their good and had nothing to fear 
from them. All the world knows how Livingstone's work became 
the inspiration of Stanley's career and resulted ultimately in the 
real opening of the Dark Continent. 

Even before Livingstone's time his father-in-law, Robert 
Moffat, traveled with his wife and babies through South Africa 
when no one else dared venture outside of the white settlements, and 
no one thought of molesting him. He was the only man who had 
any influence over Moselikatse, the most bloodthirsty chief in South 
Africa. 




<L}j 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Return from Sotik District— Greatest Trip oe Kind Ever 
Made— Lost in WatereEss Desert— MaueEd to Death by 
Angry Lion— Hardships on Safari— RoosEveet Safe Back 
at Nairobi. 

HE arrival at Nairobi, on May 29, of the 
Roosevelt specimens under the care of 
Prof. Edmund Heller established the first 
official link between Colonel Roosevelt and the capital of 
British East Africa. It was expected that the special 
freight car in which they were packed would come up at- 
tached to the ordinary train from Mombasa, due at 11.30, and a 
large part of the population had planned to go down to the station 
and do honor to the victims, since the chief himself had not yet put 
in an appearance. 

But with characteristic modesty, Heller had his car attached to 
a freight train leaving Kapiti plains at the early hour of 3 A. M., 
and so he arrived in Nairobi at 6 o'clock, when the inhabitants were 
sleeping peacefully. 

But Heller was so eager to get the work well forward before 
the sun got any hotter, that the men called up to help had no time 

for repining. 

This is an easy-going country, and it was three full hours before 
Heller could find anyone at the station to have the car brought up 
where it could be opened and unloaded. Perhaps the station em- 
ployes had taken a sniff at the doors when he was not looking, and 
so were dodging further work in connection with the collection. 

The smell of brine, garlic and gamey flesh when the seal finally 
was broken and the car opened, would have been enough to frighten 
off pretty much anybody. 



248* A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. 

Finally the doors of the car were opened and a sack containing 
the complete skin of one of the giraffes was lifted out. 

It happens rarely that a giraffe skin can be taken off without 
being cut into sections, for it is heavy and adheres closely to the flesh. 
Prof. Heller accomplished a veritable feat in getting off intact two 
giraffe skins. 

Colonel Roosevelt killed his two and Kermit his one on the same 
day, and, owing to the heat hastening decomposition, the old hunters 
on the Safari said that not even one skin could be saved. But, by 
working with the rapidity and skill which have made his reputation 
as a taxidermist, Heller saved both of the Colonel's giraffes, though 
all of Kermit's was lost except the head and feet. 

CARE USED IN PRESERVATION OF ANTELOPE BONES. 

A delicate case containing the bones of some of the small ante- 
lope required great care. Most of these were not wholly preserved, 
only the heads and certain bones being taken, but at least one of each 
species was kept in entirety. 

As a Swahili native shouldered a heavy bone, he smacked his 
lips and said in his dialect to the darky helping him : " This make 
heap good soup for Bwana Tumbo !" Swahilis adore picking 
giraffe bones, and it never would occur to them that Bwana Tumbo 
(Colonel Roosevelt) and Bwana Htoto (Kermit) have not the same 
tastes. 

In a heap on the ground was the skin of the huge bull rhino- 
ceros which charged Colonel Roosevelt and was shot at fourteen 
paces. It took six men to lift it to the car waiting nearby. The 
specimens later were transferred to store houses, where they were 
packed for shipment to the Smithsonian Institution. At the time 
of skinning, Heller scraped all the hides and bones carefully and 
rubbed on salt as a preservative, but each piece had to be inspected 
carefully to make sure that decay had not set in. 

The specimens preserved whole include seven lions, one rhino- 
ceros, two giraffes, a zebra, and some twenty types of hartbeest, 
wildebeests, Thompsonian, grantii and other smaller game. 

The special train bearing Colonel Roosevelt and his party ar- 



A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT *249 

rived at Kijabe on June 3. Colonel Roosevelt was delighted with 
the beauty of the scenery, especially the Rift valley, on the way up 
from Nairobi. 

Colonel Roosevelt remained at the American Mission that night, 
and started for the Sotik district the next day. 

For twenty-two miles of the journey by rail Colonel Roosevelt 
and Major Mearns rode on the cowcatcher of the locomotive. On 
the way a hyena that got on the track was almost run down. 

All the porters of the expedition, who had preceded Colonel 
Roosevelt to this point, were lined up on the station platform and 
cheered Colonel Roosevelt when the train pulled in. The American 
missionaries also were at the station to greet Colonel Roosevelt, and 
they invited him to dinner. 

ON THE COWCATCHER TO LIMORU. 

On arrival at Kikuyu, after a climb of 1,250 feet, Colonel 
Roosevelt and two members of the party again got on the cowcatcher 
and rode to Limoru, at an altitude of 7,340 feet. The country is 
thickly timbered. On all sides were Kikuyu plantations and villages, 
and here and there were to be seen settlers' farms. Colonel Roose- 
velt was delighted with the scenery. 

The two professors and Kermit sat on the roof of their car- 
riage, and thus obtained a good view. The huge Rift Valley is a 
marvellous piece of scenery. It extends from the Red Sea to Ger- 
man East Africa, and is studded with lakes and extinct volcanoes. 

At Escarpment Colonel Roosevelt gave up his seat on the cow- 
catcher to Kermit. Escarpment is 364 miles from the coast, at 
7,390 feet above the sea. 

Kijabe, which has an altitude of 6,790 feet, was reached at 5.10 
P. M. On the platform all the porters of the expedition were lined 
up and cheered Colonel Roosevelt as he stepped from the train. 

Within a mile of the station was the huge camp of the expedi- 
tion, and over the Colonel's tent waved the American flag. The 
horses and baggage were soon removed to the camp from the train, 
and after dinner every one went to bed. 

The members of the party were early astir the next day, and 



250* A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. 

Major Mearns and Professors Loring and Heller went put directly 
after breakfast, shooting birds and monkeys. Kermit soon followed 
them, and at 10 A. M. Colonel Roosevelt accompanied the Rev. 
Charles Hurlburt to the American Mission at Kijabe. He carried 
a rifle in the hope of killing some colobus monkeys. 

Colonel Roosevelt had luncheon in the open air under a canopy 
at the mission. There were some forty missionaries and settlers 
to meet Colonel Roosevelt. After luncheon the Rev. Mr. Hurlburt 
rose and welcomed Colonel Roosevelt on behalf of the missionaries 
and settlers. He spoke feelingly of Colonel Roosevelt's interest and 
kindness to missionaries when he was President. The native choir 
of the mission sang several glees and hymns. Colonel Roosevelt 
seemed much impressed with the work of the mission. About 3 
P. M. he and Kermit returned on foot to the camp, which was about 
three miles below the mission. 

KERMIT SHOOTS A COLOBUS MONKEY. 

Meanwhile Kermit Roosevelt had shot a fine colobus monkey 
and the two professors bagged a green-faced monkey and three 
colobus monkeys. Major Mearns added several specimens of birds 
to the collection for the Smithsonian Institute. 

On their return to camp the party began preparations for the 
morrow's start. A settler named Ulyatt had been engaged with his 
four ox wagons to carry 125 gallons of water for the expedition's 
use across the two and a half days' waterless march to the Guaso 
Hyiro river. He was filling large tins with water and loading them 
on the wagons. The party all retired early. The wagons with 
water started off at 8.30 A. M. on June 5 and the tents were then 
struck and the loads made up. After luncheon the party started 
off on its six weeks' safari. Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit with 
Major Mearns, led the way on their ponies, and the porters, in a long 
line, headed by a gunbearer carrying the American flag, followed 
them, the train being a quarter of a mile long. Messrs. Cunning- 
hame and Tarlton brought up the rear on their ponies. 

The safari was to march day and night, with hardly a stop for 
two and a half days, until the Guago Hyiro river was reached. As 



A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. *25i 

there was a fine moon, they had no difficulty in marching 1 at night 
When halting the men slept on the ground and no tents were put up. 

In the Guaso Hyiro river country there had been fifty odd lions 
killed by settlers in the last two months, a fact that promised rare 
sport. 

The party experienced the greatest hardships in its trip to the 
Lumbwa big elephant district. The messenger was sent in to 
Naivasha to order two fresh horses dispatched to the party at once, 
as several of the horses with which the caravan set out were in- 
capacitated. When he left camp the Colonel and the others were 
still toiling through the arid regions between Naivasha and Sotik. 
The journey was unexpectedly slow, and the messenger said that 
Colonel Roosevelt did not expect to go into camp until Friday. 

The arrival of the messenger furnished the only scrap of news 
from the Roosevelt party since it left Kijabe, a week before. 

NEWS FROM COL. ROOSEVELT'S OLD HUNTING GROUNDS. 

Meanwhile, mournful news came from Roosevelt's old hunting 
giound. A member of the party of George McMillan, nephew of 
the late Senator McMillan, of Michigan, was brought in mortally 
wounded by a lion. He was in the service of Mr. McMillan as a 
secretary. The encounter with the lion occurred in the Sotik dis- 
trict, where the party had been shooting. 

C. W. Prynne, one of the managers of the McMillan estate, 
identified the wounded hunter as Henry C. Williams, an English- 
man about thirty years old, who had attained considerable fame in 
Africa as a hunter and an officer of the constabulary. 

Mr. Prynne, who hunted on the McMillan ranch a few years 
ago, said that Mr. Williams had seen much service in the Basuto 
and other native wars of British East Africa. Mr. Prynne said the 
young Englishman was especially noted as a stalker of game and as 
a quick and sure shot, whose coolness in time of danger had been 
proven often. 

So far the Roosevelt hunting party operating in Sotik, had had 
merely a repetition of its success on the Athi plains and the Mau 
Hills. No elephants had yet been killed and a messenger declared 



252- A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. 

that Colonel Roosevelt was rapidly becoming impatient at his failure 
to get a shot at an elephant. The Colonel bagged another lion but 
the real honors of the Sotik hunt went to Kermit, who killed the 
largest and finest specimen of lion yet encountered. Kermit's lion 
was much larger than the black maned fellow that Colonel Roosevelt 
shot while on the McMillan ranch. 

Game was plentiful in the Sotik country and besides the two 
lions, the Colonel and Kermit brought down three giraffes, two 
cheetahs, two elands and six topi. 

All the members of the party were standing the oppressive 
climate in good shape and the Colonel was now so thoroughly ac- 
climated that he was able to follow the pace of the natives without 
fatigue. 

NO HARDSHIPS ENCOUNTERED ON THE JOURNEY. 

The runner was four days on the way. He said the journey 
of the Roosevelt party to Sotik entailed no hardships not even in 
crossing the intervening desert which required two days. After 
quitting the desert the game region was encountered and Colonel 
Roosevelt did not even wait for the party to pitch its tents before 
beginning his hunt. In addition to the animals mentioned a large 
number of smaller animals were killed. The naturalists were sav- 
ing all the skins. Colonel Roosevelt also shot three buffaloes, after 
an exciting hunt. 

The Colonel also killed a splendid maned lion, one lioness, and 
four rhinoceroses. He brought down the lion while the beast was 
in full charge, the bullet penetrating the middle of the chest. 

Kermit Roosevelt secured one big bull eland, one lioness and 
two rhinoceroses. In addition, both hunters were successful in 
bringing down a large variety of other game. 

The party was headed for the farm of Captain Richard Atten- 
borough, on the south shore of Naivasha Lake, where Colonel 
Roosevelt and his son were to use a launch in hippopotamus 
hunting. 

The long journey made by the Roosevelt expedition from 
Nairobi to the Sotik district was for the purpose of giving the 



A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. *253 

former President an opportunity to bag a white rhinoceros. The 
failure of any of the party to get within range of one of these rare 
animals w T as said to be the cause of Colonel Roosevelt cutting short 
his hunt in the Sotik district, where his chances of shooting a white 
rhino were believed by his guides to have been good. 

Although Colonel Roosevelt failed to get one of this class of big 
African game, Captain Richard Dawson, of the Coldstream Guards, 
was most fortunate. Captain Dawson shot a large white rhino 
near Koba, in the Sotik district, while Roosevelt was seeking one 
L without avail. The animal was killed within a few miles of where 
Colonel Roosevelt and his party were hunting. 

While Colonel Roosevelt was only a few miles away the 
Government officials closed the public road which runs from Nairobi 
to Fort Hall, the capital of Kenia, owing to the invasion of that 
district by man-eating lions. Several natives within the previous 
few days had been killed by these animals. 

THE FORT HALL ROAD CLOSED BY THE AUTHORITIES. 

The Fort Hall road which had been closed by the authorities 
is about sixty miles long and situated to the east of the Uganda 
Railroad. Former President Roosevelt was then on a shooting trip 
in the Sotik district, which is about fifty miles from Naivasha on 
the west side of the railroad. 

Commander Frederic Attenborough, of the British Navy, re- 
tired, who has built a magnificent European estate in the African 
mountains that fringe on the southern borders of Lake Naivasha, 
sailed across Lake Naivasha to Naivasha in his steam launch on 
July 12 at full speed, bringing tales of suffering from the Roosevelt 
camp and securing a quick supply of food, with which he sped back 
to his estate on the other side of the lake, to succor the Roosevelt 
party. 

According to the story Commander Attenborough told while 
the porters were loading his launch with all manner of food and 
supplies for the Roosevelt party, R. J. Cunninghame, the noted 
English hunter, who was in charge of the Roosevelt party, accom- 



254* A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. 

panied by a few porters, staggered up to the Attenborough manor 
house the previous night. 

Cunninghame was in terrible shape, and neither he nor any of 
his porters or bearers had tasted food or water for a day. When 
he was rested and been given food and water Cunninghame told 
Commander Attenborough that the Roosevelt party had found itself 
suddenly short of both food and water and that the entire party was 
coming on to the Attenborough estate while Cunninghame had come 
on with extra speed to secure a small amount of water and provi- 
sions to last the party until it arrived. 

Cunninghame underestimated the distance from the Roosevelt 
camp, and he and his porters started out across the desert without 
sufficient food and water, with the result that they were in bad 
shape when they reached the Attenborough estate. 

THE GUIDE REASSURES THE ROOSEVELT PARTY. 

Before leaving the Attenborough estate on his return with 
food to the Roosevelt party Guide Cunninghame declared he would 
be able to come up with Colonel Roosevelt and guide him in by n 
o'clock. Commander Attenborough did not wait the arrival of the 
party. Leaving his brother, H. W. Attenborough, to act as Colonel 
Roosevelt's host, he sped across the lake in his launch to secure the 
supplies which Guide Cunninghame declared the party needed. 

The expedition arrived the next morning at the farm of Cap- 
tain Attenborough. 

Colonel Roosevelt and his son Kermit remained at Captain 
Attenborough's only long enough to bag three hippopotami, a bull, 
a cow and a calf; a specimen of the rare digdig antelope, a bush- 
buck, and a baboon. They then moved on to the ranch of Lord 
Delamere, one of the game wardens of British East Africa, to hunt 
with him for ten days at Njoro. The other members of the party 
stayed at camp at Captain Attenborough's. 

Major E. A. Mearns, a member of the Roosevelt party, rode a 
distance of forty miles to give medical attention to three natives 
belonging to an expedition under O. C. Chapman, who had been 



A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. *255 

severely mauled by a lion. In spite of his efforts two of the men 
died. 

In addition to the other game previously reported as secured in 
the Sotik district, Colonel Roosevelt bagged two more rhinoceroses, 
each with big horns, a wildebeeste, and a number of lesser specimens. 

On July 14 the members of the Roosevelt party still were active 
in their search for game in the vicinity of Lake Naivasha. Monday 
and Tuesday the party were on the march from dawn until after 
nightfall. 

At the end of the first day the pool that had been the objective 
was found to have dried up, and the party had consequently to spend 
the night in a waterless camp. The next day the Colonel brought 
down a three-ton hippopotamus. 

Colonel Roosevelt had an exciting and dangerous adventure 
late in July while killing a she hippopotamus which he desired 
greatly to add to his collection. 

CRAFT ENDANGERED BY MANY HIPPOS. 

In a boat rowed by only two natives the Colonel set out on 
Lake Naivasha. What seemed to be twelve hippos surrounded 
the frail craft when it was some distance from shore and attacked 
it, some diving and trying to upset it by rising directly under it. 

The natives were badly scared, but Colonel Roosevelt was per- 
fectly cool and, picking out the finest cow and the biggest bull, killed 
them in quick succession. Terrified by the shots, the other hippos 
swam away. Colonel Roosevelt, who is as modestly silent about 
the adventture as is his custom, arrived at the camp at 3 A. M., 
towing home the dead hippos with a launch that was sent out in 
search of the rowboat. 

Edmund Heller, of Riverside, Cal., the expedition's zoologist, 
caught a 130-pound leopard in a wire trap the same day. 

Colonel Roosevelt and his party arrived at Nairobi on July 24, 
thereby bringing to a close a successful ten days' hunting tour on 
the south shore of Lake Naivasha. 

Having laid aside his gun for a few days, Colonel Roosevelt 
on August 2, turned to church and philanthropic matters, with all 



*256 A TRIP WITHOUT A PRECEDENT. 

the enthusiasm he had displayed in the hunting of African big 
game. The ex-President took a leading part in the installation 
work of the local Masonic lodge and Masons from all over this part 
of Africa came to Narobi for the occasion. 

On August 4 the party ended their season of inaction in 
Nairobi and left for Naivasha where preparations were made for 
resuming the hunt. 

On the way to Naivasha the party stopped at Kijabe and with- 
out loss of time the former President performed the ceremony of 
laying the corner-stone of the new mission church and school for 
white children. 

Colonel Roosevelt, on August 2.1, while hunting in Kenya, one 
of the seven administrative provinces of British East Africa pro- 
tectorate, killed a bull elephant. The tusks of the elephant weighed 
eighty pounds each. The Colonel was then hunting without a com- 
panion toward Mweru, while Kermit and Leslie A. Tarlton were 
hunting along Gwaso Nyiro, the principal stream in Kenya. 

On September 17 the Colonel killed another big bull elephant. 
Two more elephants were bagged by the ex-President on September 
24. In the meantime Kermit had killed five lions, three buffaloes, 
one elephant and a rhinoceros. 

Later, the party then began their northward march toward 
Khartoum, where they next were to greet civilization. While on 
this march, far beyond reach of either telegraph or mails, they did 
little hunting beyond supplying the demands of their larder. 

The " hunt " was practically over when they left the jungle, 
as above narrated, to penetrate the Nile Valley. Indeed, even had 
the latter been a " big game " country, they scarcely would have 
killed many specimens, since practically all they desired had been 
secured and they had no inclination to shoot for the mere lust of 
slaying. 



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